New scheme will replace manual pension book system. PHOTO: EXPRESS
The Smart National Identity Card (SNIC) will replace the old manual pension book system, in which millions of ghost pensioners were registered and were drawing money from the government’s kitty, causing losses worth billions of rupees.
“Live biometrics on the SNIC would be needed to verify a pensioner’s identity. It would rule out the possibility of anyone holding more than one pension documents or non-entitled people drawing a pension in the name of their dead relatives,” a NADRA official said. The SNIC, as a computer chip enabled card, would eliminate the ghost pensioners. “Every pensioner would be asked to provide his/her biometrics, thumbs and finger impression, at the time of [the] money transaction,” the official said. The official added that “if the biometrics does not match, this means the person providing them is not the actual pensioner.
It would also tell if one person is drawing pension from multiple departments as his record will appear on NADRA’s database.” President Asif Ali Zardari was given a presentation on the pension disbursement programme through the SNIC and he approved it. Soon, the government will call a meeting of all stakeholders, mainly the ministry of finance, to discuss the modalities of the programme. Before it is put into action, it will be mandatory for all government employees and pensioners to obtain the SNIC from NADRA.
The pension programme will reduce the burden on post offices and the National Bank of Pakistan, besides ensuring elderly pensioners do not have to wait in long queues at the start of every month. So far, NADRA has issued over 300,000 SNICs to people across the country, with 88,000 issued in Sindh alone.
The card, for its unique features, was becoming popular among people, said NADRA Chairman Tariq Malik. “It is not merely an identity but [an] entitlement document. I am sure it would be a key instrument in transforming Pakistan into a welfare state,” Malik stated. A match-on-card applet (small application that performs one specific task that runs within the scope of a larger programme) has been designed by the authority which will enable verifications of individuals in the remotest parts of Pakistan, in areas where electric devices are run on batteries even, Malik added.
He said the pension programme was only one of scores of benefits of the SNIC. “The government will be able to ascertain that the person casting [their] vote is indeed the same as one on the electoral roll.” The chairman added:
“We have also made the card compliant with ICAO’s (International Civil Aviation Organisation) requirements for a machine-readable travel document and this card can eventually be used as a passport.”
Published in The Express Tribune, January 6th, 2013.
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