ISLAMABAD: Federal Minister for Planning and Development Ahsan Iqbal visited the headquarters of National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA) and distributed ‘certificates of excellence’ among 24 software engineers who developed the Digital Census Turnkey Solution within a short period.

NADRA Chairman Tariq Malik briefed the minister on the recent citizen-centric digital interventions rolled out to complement the initiatives of the federal government.

During the briefing, the NADRA chairman highlighted the special efforts of the NADRA to extend its registration services to the doorstep of citizens through 771 Registration Centres and the deployment of 222 Mobile Registration Vans (MRVs) across the country.

The NADRA chairman also briefed the minister that the NADRA is all poised to carry out the project on Civil Registration and Vital Statistics (CRVS) in collaboration with the Ministry of Planning, Development and Special Initiatives. The minister expressed his interest in the NADRA to record registration of birth and death at health facilities across the country.

During the visit, the minister was also informed that during the past one year, the NADRA has enhanced cards printing capacity from 60,000 to 125,000 per day. The NADRA chairman also apprised the minister about the security features of the smart card which is laden with 36 security features making Pakistan ID card the most secure and unforged.

Meanwhile, the minister also visited the NADRA high-tech Operations Room where he was briefed about the Centralized Operations Management System.

Iqbal lauded the efforts of Malik for introducing international standards and world’s best practices in the NADRA, setting a new benchmark for the world to look for.

Iqbal distributed the certificates of excellence among 24 software engineers who developed Digital Census Turnkey Solution in the shortest time.

The minister appreciated the efforts of all software engineers who worked day and night in developing the solution for the country’s first digital census.

The pilot phase of the digital census was successfully carried out from July 21 to August 3.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2022