NADRA’s systems battling crime, says chairman

Staff Report

LAHORE: With the introduction of the National Database and Registration Authority’s (NADRA) Online Verification System (VERISYS), passport and identity card tampering can be curbed in the future, said Saleem Ahmed Moin, the NADRA chairman. All Pakistani banks and financial institutions are using VERISYS and at present, it is operating at more than 201 locations in Pakistan, he said.

Moin was giving a briefing at NADRA’s provincial headquarters on Friday. He said that NADRA has issued 41.96 million Computerised National Identity Cards (CNICs) to people. He said that NADRA was receiving approximately 25,000 applications every day for CNICs across the country.

“Our database includes data on more than six million citizens, including minors, and is one of the largest databases compiled in the world. We have more than 200 functional Swift Registration Centres (SRC) operating in Pakistan which help people get their CNICs processed without any complications,” Moin said.

Replying a question, the chairman said that VERISYS was a technology-based system that allowed the particulars of a CNIC holder to be verified in real time. “The system can detect and identify any discrepancies that occur if the CNIC is different from the one available in our database,” he added.

He said that in order to facilitate citizens in remote areas, NADRA’s mobile vans were operating and doing an excellent job of processing and distributing CNICs. He said that around 34 new mobile vans were being commissioned to facilitate the people of rural areas.

With the issuance of machine-readable passports (MRPs), Moin said that Pakistan was the first country in the world to issue a passport using both the automatic finger identification and facial recognition system. “This will eliminate the issuance of passports through fraudulent means,” he said.

Moin said that the MRP project was initiated on a build-operate and transfer basis and NADRA had officially handed over the MRP project to the Immigration and Passport Department on December 25.

He said that at present, 70,000 machine-readable passports had been printed. He said that NADRA had also handed over the MRP printing-facility, which printed 6,000 passports per shift, to the Immigration and Passport Department. “The Immigration and Passport Department has now assumed full control of the MRP project,” he added.

The chairman said that NADRA was the only government sector organisation to have hired more than eight thousand IT professional and had thus created many employment opportunities.

Moin said that technologies such as CNICs and MRPs were indigenous projects initiated by NADRA’s employees. Replying a question, Moin said that NADRA had initiated the Automatic Finger Identification System (AFIS) so that CNICs could not be duplicated or forged. “This system can check one fingerprint against 7 million fingerprints in our database in just one second. NADRA will now be able to detect ghost applicants or recipients by using AFIS,” he said.

“Recently, NADRA detected cases where some applicants were issued more than one CNIC, which proves that AFIS is extremely effective. In some cases, the applicants had provided different details and in some the details provided were similar to earlier applications,” he added.

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