Mismanagement by Punjab government: Nadra facing serious problems in distribution of Watan Cards

National Database and Registration Authority, Nadra is facing serious problems in distribution of Watan Cards mainly due to the mismanagement on the part of Punjab government, which is confused over the identification of the areas affected by the floods, it has learnt reliably.
While Punjab government alleged that Nadra was not co-operating with the revenue staff and district administration in distribution of "Watan card". A Nadra officer said with the condition of anonymity that Punjab government is in the practice of notifying some villages of certain districts as flood-hit areas but after some time, these are de-notified creating a lot of mismanagement issues for Nadra.
The sources in Nadra revealed that in one such example, initially some 127 villages were notified as flood-hit areas by the Punjab government in Mianwali District but later it transpired that among these 28 villages were not affected by floods and consequently these villages were de-notified.
However, according to the sources, some of the people from de-notified villages had availed the cash facility of Watan Cards costing national kitty to millions. "De-notification process is creating a lot of mismanagement problems for us as the non-deserving people keep on visiting our centres, and when not accommodated, create a law and order situation," an official of Nadra informed this scribe on the condition of anonymity.
Provincial governments on the basis of information provided by district administrations issue a notification in which specific villages of any district are declared as flood-hit. Nadra on the basis of this information process distributes Watan Cards among the flood affected people all over the country. The sources also said that the district administrations, including DCOs in Punjab specially and all over the country in general, had not moved efficiently to sensitise the flood affected victims that who was eligible to avail the cash facility resulting in bad law and order situation at Nadra centres.
According to the modus operandi for distribution of Watan Cards, a cash facility of Rs 20,000 for each flood affectee, 'Head of Family' in each family is basically the beneficiary of the relief amount. However, various Nadra officials working at its Watan Card distribution centres informed this scribe that it was a common practice that all the members of a family turned up in the centres for issuance of Watan Card and resultantly, added unnecessary load to the work and also resented when not accommodated leading to law and order problems.
Another source in Nadra informed that the issue of distribution of cash cards was being politicised mainly by the Punjab government as it was used to allegedly saying that the Authority was using dill-delaying tactics in processing and distribution of cards.
Tariq Malik, Deputy Chairman Nadra, when contacted, said that Nadra was committed to extend all every possible co-operation with all the provinces, including Punjab in distribution of Watan Cards. He further said that Authority had initiated a free 9888 SMS service for the people to know whether they were titled to avail the cash facility through Watan Cards or not.