NADRA launches SMS service to aid Watan Card distribution

Flood victims will be able to check if their names are included in the beneficiaries' list of the Watan Card Project.

LAHORE: The National Database & Registration Authority (NADRA) launched a mobile SMS service, on Monday, in collaboration with the Pakistan Telecommunications Authority to facilitate the flood affected people, said NADRA deputy chairman Tariq Malik on Monday. Through this service, people will be able to check if their names are included in the beneficiaries’ list of the Watan Card Project and also lodge their complaints, if any.

The step was taken in order to keep a check on the crowd at NADRA centres. Applicants will be able to check their eligibility for the Watan Card by sending their CNIC numbers to 9888. They will, in response, receive a text message from the NADRA central server confirming whether their name is included in the beneficiaries’ list.

For the redressal of complaints, a text message containing two CNIC numbers pertaining to the same area i.e. CNIC of a beneficiary and of the complainant, will have to be sent on the designated short code in order to launch a complaint.

“We have received complaints from people living in the same area that though one of them is included in the list of beneficiaries, the other is not,” said the chairman. NADRA is looking to resolve such issues with the help of the SMS service, added Malik.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 28^th, 2010.