ISLAMABAD (December 10 2003): The National Database and Registration Authority (Nadra) has turned down the Central Board of Revenue (CBR) plea for sharing information of citizens for ascertaining actual income of an individual.
Nadra Chairman Brigadier Saleem Ahmed Moeen (Retd) said this while responding to a query during a press conference here on Tuesday.
He said that the CBR wrote a letter to the Interior Ministry demanding exchange of data on those Pakistanis who had been issued computerised national identity cards (CNICs).
“We refused CBR's plea as it was in violation of Nadra Ordinance, which prohibits leakage of computerised sensitive information,” the Nadra chairman added.
He said that the authority had already removed National Tax Number (NTN) earlier printed on the CNICs.
However, he categorically dispelled the impression that Nadra was sharing data with any national or foreign secret agency.
Brigadier Moeen reiterated that the expiry date of December 31, 2003 for old manual identity cards would not be extended, while Nadra would continue to produce new CNICs for citizens even after that.
Nadra would not stop issuance of CNICs even after December 31, he said, adding that CNIC was just one project, while Nadra was working on several other public service projects.
Nadra has produced approximately 33 million CNICs out of which 77,000 applicants have not collected them so far, long past the due date.
The Nadra chairman said that since the deadline has approached, the citizens were now concentrating at the National Swift Registration Centres (NSRCs) and Satellite Swift Registration Centres (SSRCs) to get new CNICs, while Nadra staff at District Registration Offices (DROs) was sitting idle.
Brigadier Moeen said that the citizens should visit 121 DROs and 97 SDROs at district/tehsil levels as well, to submit their forms to ease the pressure on NSRCs.
At present, approximately 1.1 million cards were ready for delivery at the central distribution points in Lahore, Faisalabad, Multan, Peshawar, Karachi, Hyderabad, Islamabad and Rawalpindi, and NSRCs, DROs, SDROs in other cities.
Nadra has linked almost all the 28 passport offices with the National Database for online verification, providing CNICs to intending Hujjaj and Umrah performers to maintain transparency, he said.
He said that the authority had been continuously informing the citizens about the importance of getting CNICs, as the government had made the computerised identity card compulsory for passport and other legal documentary requirements, as it would also be a prerequisite for getting electricity, telephone connection and opening bank accounts after December 31, 2003.
Moeen also advised the senior citizens to apply for CNICs through manual forms, which could be submitted by any relative or representative at any Nadra office, while a blood relative or any representative against an authority letter could collect their cards.
