38,000 Watan card aspirants found bogus

Applicants refused debit card by the relevant authorities, claiming they were all bogus.

PESHAWAR: Some 38,000 Watan card applicants eying to pocket Rs20,000 each have been refused the debit card by the relevant authorities, claiming they were all bogus, official sources told The Express Tribune.

The government had earlier approved a list of about 284,000 flood-stricken families in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa to be provided with the financial assistance, the source added.

A sum of Rs6 billion out of Rs17 billion diverted from the provincial Annual Development Plan has been allocated for financial assistance to the flood-ravaged families, said Shakeel Qadir who heads the Provincial Disaster Management Authority.

The amount will be provided to families who have lost their houses due to the terrible rains and floods. The disputed lists of 38,000 families were prepared by deputy commissioners ostensibly under pressure from provincial ministers, MPs and other influential people, the source said, adding, “Corruption can also not be ruled out in this matter.”

Meanwhile, provincial chief secretary Ghulam Dastagir has confirmed that 38,000 applications for financial help in the form of Watan cards have been disputed by the relevant authorities. He said that K-P Chief Minister Ameer Haider Khan Hoti has taken a serious view of the issue. “We will sort out the issue soon,” he said.

The authorities had found irregularities in the lists and referred the matter to the provincial government last month. The situation prompted a high-level meeting of different agencies including NADRA presided over by the chief secretary on October 28. It was pointed out by the authorities that several thousand families were approved for the Watan card scheme without meeting the prescribed rules and procedures.

Applications by thousands of families were approved by the deputy commissioners without the National Identity Cards, a source said. Meanwhile, several complaints have surfaced indicating that the system adopted for the issuance of Watan cards is not fair and transparent. Several hundred non-deserving persons have been able to receive the cards through political influence while the actual flood victims are being denied the facility by the authorities concerned.

There are also allegations that officials were charging bribes amounting to Rs5,000 for each Watan card from the flood-affected families.

Shakeel Qadir, who also attended the meeting under the chief secretary last month, said that the list of 38,000 families will be examined by the deputy commissioners and other sources. NADRA has been asked by the government to issue NICs to the actual people so that they are compensated quickly.  Qadir admitted that political influence was accepted by the authorities in the preparation of lists of flood affected families.

“Why not,” was his reply when asked why the authorities bow to political pressure, “They are elected representatives of the people.” He said the provincial authorities were bound to accept political pressure in the larger interest of the flood-affected people. “We accept the political pressure when it is established that the matter is fair and needed to be addressed, he explained.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 8^th, 2010.