CNICs re-verification: NADRA has smoked out 86,380 ‘intruders’
Nisar says around 450,000 CNICs blocked during campaign
ISLAMABAD:
Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan has claimed that the National Database Registration Authority (NADRA) has identified 86,380 ‘intruders’ during a six-month-long campaign to re-verify computerised national Identity cards (CNIC) of all citizens.
“An SMS had been sent to every CNIC-holder asking him to verify his family tree. They identified these intruders and their identification is almost 100% correct,” Nisar told a news conference on Friday at the NADRA headquarters. “It will take a little more time to identify how many of these intruders are fake CNIC-holders and foreigners.”
He said no work was done for verification of CNICs during former Shaukat Aziz’s government and only 519 CNICs had been blocked during the tenure of the previous regime. “I can’t tell you what kind of people had been issued Pakistani CNICs between 2004 and 2007 in a criminal breach of law,” he said, adding that hundreds of NADRA employees have either been fired or sent to jails due to their role in issuing these CNICs.
Sharing data of the blocked CNICs, he said 26 CNICs were blocked in 2011; 493 in 2012; 6,000 in 2013; 22,000 in 2014; 96,000 in 2015; and 223,512 were blocked in 2016. “Around 450,000 CNICs had been blocked during past three-and-a-half years. This is not the end of the verification process.”
Nisar also announced formation of an 18-member committee comprising all parliamentary parties to oversee the unblocking process of those CNICs which have been wrongly blocked. “NADRA will present a report to this committee every month,” he added.
According to him some SOPs have also been formalised for unblocking CNICs.
“The CNICs will be at least temporarily restored till the completion of final verification of the person who will present the land record of the revenue department prior to 1978, attested domicile, the attested family-tree of the Revenue Department, the certificate of government job or that of his blood relation in government job, attested academic certificates prior to 1978 or that of his father or grandfather and a passport the issued before 1978,” he said.
“During the past regimes, CNICs and passports were handed over to the foreigners blatantly. The Pakistani passport was recovered even from terrorists who were not Pakistani and the official passports were used in human trafficking,” he added.
Nisar said due to issuance of a CNIC to slain Afghan Taliban chief Mullah Akhtar Mansoor, Pakistan’s enemies got a chance to malign the country as they took up the matter at the UN Security Council. “I as the interior minister cancelled 32,400 passports which had been obtained by the foreigners,” he said.
He also announced formation two committees next week to probe the case of money-changers Khanani and Kalia and to prosecute the case of Axact, an IT company facing charges of running fake diploma mills on an international scale.
Talking with reference to a smear campaign against the top judge on social media, Nisar said his ministry was in contact with social media sites to get information with regard to circulation a picture, shared with a misleading caption to defame and politicise institutions.
“We are in contact with Facebook, Twitter, WhatsApp and other social media sites to expose the elements and their hidden motives for launching negative campaign to damage the credibility of the state institutions,” he said.
To another query he said he will move the apex court to defend himself on Quetta Commission’s report and Makhdoom Ali Khan will be his lawyer.
Senate panel expresses concerns over blocking of CNICs
Separately, the Senate Committee on Interior and Narcotics expressed grave concerns over blocking of CNICs of Pakistani nationals. The committee’s chairman, Senator Rehman Malik, said he had received many complaints from Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and the Federally Administered Tribal Areas of blocking of CNICs for unknown reasons. The committee directed NADRA officials and the interior secretary to look into the matter.
Published in The Express Tribune, December 31st, 2016.
Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan has claimed that the National Database Registration Authority (NADRA) has identified 86,380 ‘intruders’ during a six-month-long campaign to re-verify computerised national Identity cards (CNIC) of all citizens.
“An SMS had been sent to every CNIC-holder asking him to verify his family tree. They identified these intruders and their identification is almost 100% correct,” Nisar told a news conference on Friday at the NADRA headquarters. “It will take a little more time to identify how many of these intruders are fake CNIC-holders and foreigners.”
He said no work was done for verification of CNICs during former Shaukat Aziz’s government and only 519 CNICs had been blocked during the tenure of the previous regime. “I can’t tell you what kind of people had been issued Pakistani CNICs between 2004 and 2007 in a criminal breach of law,” he said, adding that hundreds of NADRA employees have either been fired or sent to jails due to their role in issuing these CNICs.
Sharing data of the blocked CNICs, he said 26 CNICs were blocked in 2011; 493 in 2012; 6,000 in 2013; 22,000 in 2014; 96,000 in 2015; and 223,512 were blocked in 2016. “Around 450,000 CNICs had been blocked during past three-and-a-half years. This is not the end of the verification process.”
Nisar also announced formation of an 18-member committee comprising all parliamentary parties to oversee the unblocking process of those CNICs which have been wrongly blocked. “NADRA will present a report to this committee every month,” he added.
According to him some SOPs have also been formalised for unblocking CNICs.
“The CNICs will be at least temporarily restored till the completion of final verification of the person who will present the land record of the revenue department prior to 1978, attested domicile, the attested family-tree of the Revenue Department, the certificate of government job or that of his blood relation in government job, attested academic certificates prior to 1978 or that of his father or grandfather and a passport the issued before 1978,” he said.
“During the past regimes, CNICs and passports were handed over to the foreigners blatantly. The Pakistani passport was recovered even from terrorists who were not Pakistani and the official passports were used in human trafficking,” he added.
Nisar said due to issuance of a CNIC to slain Afghan Taliban chief Mullah Akhtar Mansoor, Pakistan’s enemies got a chance to malign the country as they took up the matter at the UN Security Council. “I as the interior minister cancelled 32,400 passports which had been obtained by the foreigners,” he said.
He also announced formation two committees next week to probe the case of money-changers Khanani and Kalia and to prosecute the case of Axact, an IT company facing charges of running fake diploma mills on an international scale.
Talking with reference to a smear campaign against the top judge on social media, Nisar said his ministry was in contact with social media sites to get information with regard to circulation a picture, shared with a misleading caption to defame and politicise institutions.
“We are in contact with Facebook, Twitter, WhatsApp and other social media sites to expose the elements and their hidden motives for launching negative campaign to damage the credibility of the state institutions,” he said.
To another query he said he will move the apex court to defend himself on Quetta Commission’s report and Makhdoom Ali Khan will be his lawyer.
Senate panel expresses concerns over blocking of CNICs
Separately, the Senate Committee on Interior and Narcotics expressed grave concerns over blocking of CNICs of Pakistani nationals. The committee’s chairman, Senator Rehman Malik, said he had received many complaints from Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and the Federally Administered Tribal Areas of blocking of CNICs for unknown reasons. The committee directed NADRA officials and the interior secretary to look into the matter.
Published in The Express Tribune, December 31st, 2016.