KARACHI: National Data­base and Registration Authority (Nadra) chairman Usman Y. Mobin removed on Wednesday the director general of its Sindh chapter, terminated services of two Karachi directors and suspended three deputy directors of the authority serving in the city.

Mr Mobin took these actions after late-night surprise visits to several centres which exposed to him the poor performance of the officials, giving a glimmer of hope to Karachiites who have been complaining for the last several years of the problems they suffered at the hands of Nadra staff despite making big payments and waiting for long hours.

Apart from the suspension, transfer and termination of the senior officers, the Nadra chairman ordered 12-hour service at all Karachi centres and round-the-clock service at the three mega centres of the authority as he took notice of the non-professional, lethargic and ill-mannered attitude of the staff at the centres he visited. During his visits he talked to applicants and heard their complaints.

Authority’s chairman orders provision of service to citizens living in remote urban areas at their doorsteps

“Nadra chairman has made key changes in the Nadra structure in Sindh and removed DG Nadra Sindh Colonel Anis Kayani from his post,” said a statement issued after his visits. “The chairman also terminated the services of two Karachi directors. On complaints of the people in-charges of four Nadra centres named Ghulam Mustafa, Asif Ghani, Shahzad Yousuf and Babar Moin were suspended. The new officers have resumed the charge immediately with a two-month task assigned by the chairman to meet the challenge and dispose of all pending applications.”

This was the second visit of the Nadra chairman to Karachi in less than three weeks after growing complaints by residents of the metropolis on social and mainstream media highlighting the poor performance of the authority in Karachi. The situation also attracted a protest campaign from the Jamaat-i-Islami when hundreds of people, including women and children, staged a protest demonstration in front of the office of director general of Nadra.

Mr Mobin, the statement said, arrived in the city in the early hours of the day and made a surprise visit to the organisation’s mega centre in DHA, where he found no improvement in its functioning despite his directives during the visit in February. The chairman interacted with the applicants, noted their grievances and issued directives on the spot, said the statement.

“During the chairman’s visit, one of the female applicants apprised him that she came for the Nadra formalities from Bhit Island since the authority doesn’t have any facility in her residential area. The chairman was so surprised and showed his anger over such an attitude of the staff in Karachi. He informed the female applicant that Nadra offers services at doorstep of those countrymen who live in remote areas and cannot access its centres easily. The chairman Nadra issued directives to provide doorstep service to the applicants of areas like Bhit Island who live in outskirts and remote urban areas,” said the Nadra spokesman while referring to the conversation between Mr Mobin and the applicants at different centres during the visits.

“The chairman Nadra has appointed retired Colonel Mir Ajam as new director general Sindh,” said the statement. “Similarly, retired Colonel Taimur Rathore and retired Colonel Sohail Ahmed have been appointed as new director of mega centres and director operations respectively. The chairman Nadra has given two-month time to the newly posted officers to complete the job and dispose of the applications at the speedy pace meeting all formalities and providing best possible services to the Karachiites.”

Published in Dawn, March 15th, 2018