Watan Card Formula Endorsed by All Chief Ministers

The National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA) has issued 500,000 Watan Cards to disburse and amount of Rs10 billion of cash assistance to flood affected families. NADRA has established 70 sites to disburse 20 thousand rupees per family through Watan Cards as announced by the Government of Pakistan. This was stated by Deputy Chairman NADRA, Tariq Malik in a statement issued on Monday.

He argued that the NADRA staff was striving hard to help the people in the affected areas through 70 centers in Punjab, Sindh and Khyber Pakhtoonkhawa (KPK). NADRA has achieved its target to set up 30 sites in Punjab, while 32 sites in Sindh and 8 sites in Khyber Pakhtoonkhawa are working to verify the deserving affected people”, Malik claimed.

He told that NADRA would also establish seven more sites in Sindh and seven sites in the KPK provinces, while similar efforts in the remaining areas would also be initiated soon. He further stated that NADRA has been striving on a zero error policy to ensure that only deserving families are issued Watan Cards enabling them to draw benefits announced by the government. The system does not allow any human intervention giving space to corruption. He informed that the concerned banks have been directed to increase more cash points for the ease of flood affected people in drawing cash.

He said NADRA's role at these centers is restricted only to verify affected people according to the lists and data provided and notified by provincial governments while ensuring law and order and providing security at the centers is responsibility of local administration and respective provincial Governments.

He requested flood affected persons to launch their complaints to the local government through DCOs about inclusion and exclusion of their names in their lists. It is the prerogative of the concerned provincial government to notify NADRA about the necessary action as per policy. He said that unscrupulous elements for monetary gain manage to hoodwink common citizens before entering the centers but no NADRA staff has been found involved in any kind of corruption. He urged provincial and Local Governments to take action against corrupt practices.
He said local DCOs and administrations are supposed to guide the flood victims to their concerned centers which will not only avoid influx of irrelevant people at the centers but would ensure security of staff at these sites enabling them to perform their duties more effectively without any hindrances.

He claimed that by now NADRA has processed approximately 175,000 CNICs in lieu of fresh and duplicate cards, free of cost to the flood affectees on an emergency basis