Flood victims: more centres opened to expedite issuance of Pakistan Cards: Nadra

Deputy Chairman National Database and Registration Authority (Nadra), Tariq Malik on Saturday said more distribution centres have been opened to expedite the process of issuance of Pakistan Cards to flood-hit families in Sindh.
The authority has set up total 31 centers so far for issuance and processing of such cards in nearly all major flood-hit districts including Badin, Shaheed Benazirabad, Mirpurkhas and Tando Muhammad Khan while preparations are also underway for opening of additional sites in Tando Muhammad Khan and new centers in Sangarh, he told APP.
Tariq Malik said the basic purpose of opening more centres is to accommodate maximum hit people and to issue them Pakistan Cards as early as possible so that they could buy their daily use items after getting cash from the banks. He said so far 115,000 Pakistan Cards to eligible heads of the rain affected families in Sindh have been issued and the work was continuing in a smooth manner.
Answering a question, he said the authority was working with Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA) and government of Sindh, adding that the relief aid beneficiary list is validated by PDMA, which is carrying out registration of affected families with the assistance of district administration in calamity-hit areas.
While Nadra is technically assisting to ensure transparency in cash disbursement by using Automated Fingerprint Identification System (AFIS) and Facial Recognition System (FRS), he added. "We deploy communication networks, implement biometrics solutions and install hardware on sites," he said and added Pakistan Card has a cash tab of Rs 20,000 in two equal instalments of cash Rs 10,000 each.
Besides processing the Pakistan Cards, he informed, Nadra is also processing the duplicate cards for those who have lost it in flood, and new computerised National Identity Cards (CNICs) for those who never had it. Nadra has so far processed approximately 9161 CNICs in lieu of fresh and duplicate cards free of cost on emergency basis.
Nadra has also mobilised its mobile registration vans (MRVs) in rain-hit areas in case any flood victim does not possess CNIC, he/she could approach MRV to apply for the one free of cost, said Tariq Malik. He advised only head of family belonging to the rain affected district should visit Pakistan Centers to avoid problems.