The federal government will launch a smart cash card 'Watan Card' on Thursday (today) to provide initial payment of Rs 20,000 to flood hit people so that they could return to their homes and start the process of reconstruction.
National Database and Registration Authority (Nadra) will technically assist the government in transparent disbursement of flood relief cash grant through 'Watan Card' in flood affected areas, said Tariq Malik, Deputy Chairman Nadra here on Wednesday evening while addressing a press conference at Nadra headquarters.
Transparent disbursement of funds is top most priority of the government, as all international donor agencies also want Pakistan to distribute funds among flood victims transparently, Malik said. "We have asked the international organisations to join us in the process so that they could also identify the loopholes in the system to ensure the complete transparency".
He said Nadra is launching this card on Thursday (today) in Bhakkar, and Mianwali district of Punjab and Thatta and Badin districts of Sindh. There are plans to launch this card in many other cities of Sindh and Punjab during Eid holidays, he said.
Watan Card is being sponsored by VISA and it will not cost any amount to government while it will be given to the affected people free of cost, Malik said. The process of the issuance of card will be completed in one and a half months and people could easily get the first tranche of relief of Rs 20,000.
At the time of disaster, Nadra was assigned the task to assist the government as they were looking for a transparent cash disbursement process, Malik said. He said that Nadra has one of the strongest databases so it would be easy for the authority to discharge this national duty properly.
He said that Khyber Pakhtonkhwa, Gilgit Baltistan and Balochistan have not so far provided data, which resulted in delay in the launch of the card. Balochistan and AJK have very recently issued notifications and both the governments and Provincial Disaster Management Authorities (PDMA) are seeking verifications to finalise site plans, he said, adding that the notifications from the government of KP and Gilgit-Baltistan are still awaited.
The federal government and NDMA would provide strategic support with overall co-ordination and liaison for acquisition of requisite approvals on behalf of the federal government, he said, adding that the provincial governments would be responsible for selection and establishment of enrolment sites and notify Nadra about them.
Provincial governments would also mobilise flood affected persons to the sites and co-ordinate inter-department activities to get the people enrolled for the cash disbursement, Malik said. Watan Card and its software has been prepared by Nadra itself and it will be a role model for the rest of the world in disaster management. He said that Watan Card, which is like an ATM card, would be issued to 20 million flood affected people, and these cards will be distributed with the co-operation of the provincial governments.
He said that Nadra would provide consolidation of registered population list, on site biometric verification and registration of unregistered beneficiaries. He said that affected people would be facilitated at information counter located at designated verification and card issuance sites where they would be validated against CNIC from beneficiary list. Upon validation, a registration form would be issued to them and their CNIC number would be written on the form.
He said a reference ID would be entered on the form by the operator after taking fingerprints and photo at the Biometric Counter while all requisite details would be entered on the form at the form filling counters.
At the bank counter, the partner bank, will issue the applicants Watan Card which will be operational after necessary verification of the credentials from Nadra database. World Bank and UNHCR are working with Nadra on this project. The partner bank will also provide on-site cash withdrawal facility and a dedicated 24/7 online help desk for the affected people.
He said that Nadra has so far issued around 45,000 cards to the flood affected people in various relief camps while Nadra staff is working with dedication in the flood affected areas and relief camps to help maximum people to get their CNICs so that they could be facilitated from the government relief schemes.
He said that Nadra had been instrumental in providing relief to the IDPs in Swat and Waziristan through a similar project and earned praise from the UN and other international agencies.
Nadra has been given this task by the government of Pakistan to collaborate and technically assist all concerned federal and provincial government departments to ensure transparent disbursement of flood relief cash aid among the affected families.
Malik said that only four steps have been suggested for verification and issuance of Watan Card. An flood affected persons would arrive on Information Counter and is validated against CNIC from beneficiary list. Upon Validation, a registration form is issued to the person and a CNIC is entered on the form. As a second step affected person enters the site and arrives at Biometric Counter where fingerprints and photograph will be taken. A reference ID may also be entered on the form by operator for reference.
Third step: the person would arrive at the form filling counter and all requisite details are entered on the form. Fourth step: The affected person proceeds to the Bank Counter and relevant details are verified by the bank and Watan Card. The issued Watan Card number will also be recorded on the form and kept at this counter.
Government has evolved a triple R strategy based on Relief, Rehabilitation and Reconstruction, Malik said, adding that the relief operation is continue and all state organs including NDMA, Pakistan Army, Navy, Air Force, international organisations and NGOs are taking part in it.