Punjab Governor Lieutenant General Khalid Maqbool (Retd) on Saturday inaugurated the Nadra kiosk project (utility bill payment system) here at Sanda Road. Speaking on the occasion, he lauded the efforts of the National Database and Registration Authority (Nadra) in churning out projects to facilitate the general public.
Nadra also offers a unique opportunity to all the financial and commercial institutions and service sector organisations of all sorts to improve their performance and provide greater customer satisfaction to their clients, he added.
He said all available resources should be utilised to provide relief to the masses. He urged all the government departments to come up with innovative ideas so as to bring a positive change in the lifestyles of the masses.
Khalid Maqbool asked the people to get their CNICs as soon as possible, as passports for Umrah, etc, are subject to production of computerised ID card. Citing Nadra's example, he asked all the other departments to utilise indigenous talent for the progress of the country.
"Such an approach will not only check the problem of brain drain from the country, but will provide everyone a chance to contribute towards uplift of the country", he added. The Punjab governor said that Nadra's kiosk project will facilitate the public in making payments of their utility bills in a hassle-free environment.
Nadra Chairman Brigadier Saleem Ahmed Moeen (Retd) while briefing the governor about the project said that keeping in view the increasing popularity of these kiosk machines among the people, the number of these machines had been increased to 31 in Lahore by the end of this year. Three kiosks in Gujranwala and two in Sialkot are already operational, he added. As many as 140 kiosks will be installed all over the province by the end of this year.
In addition to the automated kiosks, Nadra has also established counters at its Swift centres to facilitate the public in making utility bills payments, he said, adding the public response to kiosks is extremely encouraging which motivated Nadra to enhance this network.
He also said the Authority was working round-the-clock to discourage the VIP-culture and facilitate the masses, especially senior citizens and the physically handicapped. Since the system is CNIC centric it provides a single platform to citizens, he added.
The kiosk has been designed to have maximum graphics, which would enable its use even by the illiterate population; a touch screen was utilised that is very easy to operate by all sections of the society. The system accepts cash, which is predominantly used by the low-income group, he said.
Referring to the registration process, he said that based on the figures of 1998 census, around 84 percent of the population of Punjab had applied for CNICs of which 80 percent had already been issued CNICs. Based on these optimistic figures, we are hopeful that the remaining 20 percent of the population will get registered with the Nadra within one year.
Similarly, he said, the processing capacity of Nadra is 70,000 to 100,000 cards a day, while it is receiving 20,000 to 30,000 forms every day from all over the country. At present, Nadra has database of around 84 million citizens of which around 54 million are adults who have been issued computerised ID cards.