Flood victims: Nadra disburses over Rs 6.2 billion through Watan Card in second phase

National Database and Registration Authority, Nadra has disbursed Rs 6,264,380,379 to 321,336 flood victims in second phase of Watan card project. The Second Phase regarded as Citizen's Damage Compensation Programme (CDCP) under which second tranche of compensation is being provided to about 1.1 million affectees through Watan cards. This was stated by Deputy Chairman Nadra Mr Tariq Malik.
Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani inaugurated phase II of Citizen Damage Compensation Programme on 15 September 2011. The programme is now successfully being executed by Cabinet Division (Emergency Relief Cell) with the technical support of Nadra and in collaboration with Provincial Disaster Management Authorities.
In the second phase, Rs 40,000 (in two instalments) has to be provided to each of the households identified by the provinces. While elaborating the details of second phase cash disbursement he said that Nadra issued 95,796 Watan Cards in Punjab to disburse around Rs 1,549,969,390. In Sindh, the number of Watan Cards issued was 8,272 with a disbursed amount of Rs 40,733,500. In Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, the number of Watan Cards issued stood at 210,993 with disbursed amount of Rs 4,560,496,989. In Azad Kashmir, 3,075 Watan cards were issued disbursing Rs 49,690,500 while five Nadra sites were set up in Hattian, Haveli, Mirpur, Neelum and Rawalakot I. In Gilgit-Baltistan 3,200 cards were issued disbursing Rs 63,490,000 and three sites were established in Gilgit, Hunza and Skardu.
He said that only around 500 beneficiaries remain to be processed in Mardan while the disbursement in Pabbi, Tangi and Mardan is very low or nil since last few days. Tangi and Pabbi centres can be closed and the remaining caseload can be processed at Charsadda and Nowshera respectively while the resources can be utilised at any other WCFC where we need them like Kohistan, Battagram etc to facilitate the beneficiaries, he added.
Nadra has covered more than 90 percent caseload of CDCP Phase II beneficiaries pertaining to Haveeli, Hattian, Neelum, Mirpur, Rawalakot of AJK, Gilgit, Hunza, Skardo of Gilgit-Baltistan, Charsada, Mardan, Noshera, DI Khan, Harripur, Lower Dir, Lakki Marwat, Kohat, and Hangu of Khyber Pakhtukhwa, Mianwali, Jhang, Khushab, Bhakkar, Dera Ghazi Khan of Punjab.
He appreciated role of donor agencies and informed that second phase of the CDCP is supported by four donors, including USAID, DFID, the Government of Italy and the World Bank with a total allocation of US $580 million of which the Government of Pakistan is contributing US $100 million. The World Bank has been assigned the lead donor agency for this effort.
Tariq said as much as Rs 34 billion in Phase-I has already been disbursed across the country in all the provinces, including Gilgit-Baltistan and AJ&K with contributions from the Federal government as well as the provinces. However, the initial payment of Rs 20,000 under Phase-1 is unlikely to be sufficient for recapitalisation of assets given the extent of damage and loss, necessitating the graduation of CDCP into Phase-II which aims to assist the flood-affected households in rebuilding their lives beyond immediate relief.
Deputy Chairman said, that July 2010 floods in Pakistan were a disaster of unprecedented scale, which affected 80 districts and nearly 10% of Pakistan's population of about 18 million people over a vast geographical area, the tragedy destroyed approximately 1.6 million homes and damaged 2.4 million hectares of crops.-PR