Women registration by NADRA tops 40 million
The National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA) registered around 40 million women in the country, a majority of whom are eligible to cast their ballots in the next general election.
Officials told The Express Tribune on Friday that NADRA had dedicated mobile vans in almost every district to ensure each and every woman was registered across the country. “The authority has been working aggressively to increase female registration across the country, particularly in the far-flung areas through its mobile registration vans, Deputy Chairman Tariq Malik said in a statement.
Malik added that 11 women-only NADRA centres were also facilitating women in acquiring Computerised National Identity Cards (CNIC).
Officials claimed that the authority had so far registered 39.1 million women across the country to be included in the electoral rolls, including 5.1 million women in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, 560,652 in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas, 21.7 million in Punjab, 8.5 million in Sindh, 1.4 million in Balochistan, 384,513 in Islamabad, 266,220 in Giglit-Baltistan and 1.1 million in Azad Kashmir.
While emphasising the role of non-governmental organisations for creating public awareness, Malik said UN Women Pakistan will support NADRA by providing technical advice about gender equality and empowerment of women, exploring new opportunities to complement ongoing institutional efforts and determine other areas or services, where cooperation and support would be mutually beneficial. Aurat Foundation will also assist NADRA in running public awareness programmes, especially in remote areas to encourage women to register themselves in the national database. While dismissing misleading impression of women’s registration to vote, the deputy chairman was adamant that over 1.1million women were already registered in 2012, ensuring their right to vote, as CNICs are mandatory to be registered in the voters’ list.
Published in The Express Tribune, April 21st, 2012.
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