'Around 600 Nadra employees dismissed on fraud charges': Parliamentary panel informed

A parliamentary panel was informed on Thursday that around 600 employees of NADRA were dismissed from services on the charges of committing fraud and irregularities. "The NADRA had blocked around 365,000 CNICs of which 155,000 have been reopened on temporary basis," said Chairman NADRA Usman Mobeen while briefing the Senate Functional Committee on Problems of Less Developed Areas.
The committee met with Mir Kabeer Ahmad in the chair here on Thursday. The committee expressed annoyance over the absence of federal and state interior ministers and federal secretary while saying that the ministry is neither paying any importance nor providing any documents to the committee. The Secretary Interior is also not present to brief the committee, said the committee members.
The chairman NADRA briefing the committee said that around 2 million cards were issued to citizens free of cost during 2016-17. The NADRA issues different kinds of cards and currently the total number of card holders is around 110 million. The department has agreements with Punjab, Sindh and federal governments, said the chairman, adding the institution is also generating revenue through foreign projects. The NADRA extended cooperation to Nigeria, Kenya and Bangladesh, while work on six mega projects in Sudan is going on. The institution does not take funds from the government. Mobeen further said the cost of per card is Rs 976 while a citizen pays Rs 936 and Rs 40 are being born by the NADRA.