Following approval of $125 million from the World Bank, the National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA) is all set to start the second phase of Watan Cards in which cash will be disbursed to over one million flood victims. This was stated by NADRA Deputy Chairman Tariq Malik. NADRA had already issued 1.6 million cards to affected families and had disbursed Rs 30.3 billion. Second phase of the Citizen’s Damage Compensation Programme (CDCP) will provide cash transfers to over one million flood affected households. The complaint redressal system’s objective is to address complaints of legitimate beneficiaries, unable to get registered for Watan cards. He said NADRA received 300,000 complaints from flood affected people, facing problems in acquiring cards.
He said NADRA ensured strong checks in the software throughout the process so that only deserving families from provincially notified calamity hit areas could obtain Watan cards. Using its multi-biometric system, NADRA ensured transparency and thwarted several attempts of card misuse from miscreants. Around 1.3 million ineligible people visited NADRA Registration centers to obtain Watan Cards. However, the vigilant NADRA system did not allow for it. The government would have lost Rs 26 billion if the system had not rejected 1.3 million ineligible applicants, he said.
NADRA issued 608,825 Watan cards in Punjab to disburse around Rs 11.98 billion. The number of cards in Sindh was 651,990 and the disbursed amount stood at Rs 11.38 billion. The number of issued cards in Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtoonkhwa was 120,918 and 243,208 while the disbursed amount was Rs 2.19 billion and Rs 4.40 billion respectively. In Gilgit-Baltistan and Azad Kashmir, 9,378 and 10,943 cards were issued and the disbursed amount stood at Rs 155.99 million and Rs 212.06 million respectively.
NADRA set to start second phase of Watan Cards
