Watan aid scheme: 121,000 women get cards in flood-hit areas

Watan Cards enable government to disburse relief worth Rs2.43 billion among the victim families.

ISLAMABAD:

The National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA) issued as many as 121,640 Watan cards to ‘women family heads’ in the flood-hit zones last year, enabling the government to disburse relief worth Rs2.43 billion among the victim families through the cards.

The registration process for women remained extremely slow because of the lack of awareness among women living in rural areas of the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata) and Balochistan, according to an official statement issued here on Saturday.

Approximately 74 per cent women have been registered across the country. The Azad Jammu and Kashmir and Islamabad regions have the highest percentage of registered females with 96 per cent and 90 per cent, respectively.

Women’s registration in Fata and Balochistan is at its lowest with approximately 44 per cent and 56 per cent women registered in the database.

Around 79 per cent women in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, 76 per cent in Punjab, 70 per cent in Sindh and 83 per cent in Gilgit-Baltistan have registered themselves so far.

Deputy Chairman NADRA, Muhammad Tariq Malik said that the authority should mark the day with the commencement of free registration of women through various programmes.

“This women’s registration drive is aimed at increasing the percentage of registration among women to achieve a more accurate data to facilitate the national planning commission in its decision making,” he said.

The NADRA has established dedicated centres for women to enhance the percentage of their registration, Malik added.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 6^th, 2011.