Compensation to flood victims: Nadra to start payment of second tranche, says Tariq

National Database and Registration Authority (Nadra) will launch the payment of second tranche of compensation amount to 1.1 million floods affectees through Watan Cards after issuance of over 1.646 million Cards to the affected families, said Tariq Malik, Deputy Chairman NADRA here on Monday.
"We are working with the provincial governments to quickly start second phase for payment of second tranche. World Bank has approved $125m for this purpose," Malik said while talking to media. The second phase regarded as Citizen's Damage Compensation Programme (CDCP) under which second tranche of compensation will be provide to about 1.1 million affectees through Watan Card, Malik said.
In the first phase, Nadra disbursed cash assistance of Rs 30.36 billion among flood affected families across the country with Rs 20,000 to each family as immediate relief, Nadra deputy chief said, adding that this was a big achievement and first ever disbursement of its kind in the history. Nadra has set a global example in helping people and giving them a mechanism for disbursement of cash assistance transparently, he said.
He said that Nadra had issued Watan Cards to about 99 per cent affected families in a transparent manner as out of 1.68 million affected families, 1,645,262 families were provided Watan Cards and one time relief of Rs 20,000 per family. "National Disaster Management Authority ((NDMA) estimated around 1.68 million families affected by floods, and we have given Watan Cards to over 1,645,262 million families, which means we have done 99 per cent of our job," he said, adding, "Now after successful completion of the first phase, we are determined and hopeful that this achievement would pave the way for the successful completion of second phase."
He said that after completing issuance of Watan Cards, Nadra started resolving complaints of flood victims by using its efficient Complaints Redressal System. Out of 312,000 complaints received by the authority, 300,000 were resolved and remaining 12,000 would be resolved soon, Malik added. He said Nadra received 300,000 complaints from flood affected population, who had been facing different problems in getting Watan Cards and resolved these in all provinces.
Tariq Malik said that using its multi-biometric system, Nadra had ensured transparency and thwarted several attempts to misuse of the Watan Card by miscreants. "About 1.3 million ineligible people visited Nadra Registration Centers to obtain Watan Cards but due to vigilant Nadra system they could not be able to do so," he added.
"Had our system not rejected 1.3 million ineligible applicants, government of Pakistan would have lost 26 billion rupees," said Malik. "This is a perfect example of good governance and efficient service delivery recognised by international donors and agencies like World Bank," he added.
He said that Nadra issued 608,825 Watan Cards in Punjab to disburse around Rs 11.98 billion. In Sindh, 651,990 Watan Cards were issued with a disbursed amount of Rs 11.38 billion. In Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtoonkhwa, the number of Watan Cards issued stood at 120,918 and 243,208 with disbursed amount of Rs 2.19 billion and Rs 4.40 billion, respectively. In Gilgit-Baltistan and Azad Kashmir, 9,378 and 10,943 cards were issued with disbursement of Rs 155.99 million and Rs 212.06 million, respectively.