NADRA starts registration process for orphans

Chairman says only orphans with known parentage will be able to avail their fundamental Constitutional rights.

ISLAMABAD: The National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA) has started the registration process of orphans, ensuring their fundamental rights as per the Constitution.       

NADRA has been tracing the parentage of socially destitute children, with the initiative eventually showing some signs of success in identifying parents of orphans across the country.

NADRA Chairman Tariq Malik said on Wednesday that they have adopted a proactive approach to help sort out this issue which has widespread social and religious implications. he added that the authority was committed to this cause, both at policy and technical levels, since 2006 when the issue of identification of orphans surfaced.

“Now, children without known parentage will get their fundamental right of being citizens of Pakistan and get an identity under Section 9 of NADRA Ordinance 2000.”  Malik lamented that fundamental rights, however, were not accorded to children with unknown parentage.

“With the completion of registration process of orphanages, no individual (orphan) can be deprived of his fundamental rights as ensured in the constitution of the country,” chairman NADRA further said. “These rights include equality of status, opportunity and before law, social, economic and political justice and freedom of thought, expression, belief, faith, worship and association, subject to the law and public morality,” he said.

Meanwhile, a NADRA spokesperson, in a statement, said that the authority had held extensive consultation in this regard including with religious scholars in Saudi Arabia, Iran and Pakistan and the Council of Islamic Ideology.

“Subsequently, the authority was all set to enhance the software application to automate the data collection process of orphans,“ she said.

“Prior to the registration of orphans, it is mandatory for all orphanages in the country to be registered with NADRA.”

She said that orphanages had already been asked to comply with the requirement that includes filling of fields in the registration form, CNIC copy of the head of the orphanage, registration documents issued by the Federal/Provincial Registration Authority and complete details of all the children at the orphanages.

NADRA has sought the requisite information from orphanages not later than November 30, the spokesperson added.