PESHAWAR: As the internally displaced persons from North Waziristan Agency line up at registration points in Bannu and Peshawar, the National Database and Registration Authority has detected 13,000 cases of such people for cash and relief goods mostly due to duplication.

Fata Disaster Management Authority (FDMA) director general Arshad Khan told Dawn on Saturday that Nadra had so far examined the particulars of 38,000 displaced families and 25,000 of them were found to be genuine.

“A total of 13,000 duplicated cases were detected during scrutiny and they all were rejected,” he said.

Know more: relief efforts for IDPs in progress

The FDMA director general said only the families verified by Nadra would be eligible for receiving cash grant and relief assistance.

He said 17,000 activated SIM cards of a foreign cellular company were distributed among IDPs and 5,000 such families were found to be genuine cases for cash and relief.

Only families approved by Nadra to get cash,relief goods

Arshad Khan said many people had obtained double SIM cards but only the Nadra-verified head of the household would receive cash grant of Rs12,000 through SIM cards.

He said disbursement of cash grant to displaced families through SIM cards would begin on July 8.

The FDMA director general said more than one SIM cards received by a single family would be blocked.

He said the government had so far disbursed Rs330 million among displaced families.

According to the FDMA, 53,819 displaced families (698,435 individuals) have been registered at Saidgi and other registration points in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa since the Pakistan Army launched the Zarb-i-Azb operation against militants in North Waziristan on June 18.

Over 100,000 people have migrated to Afghanistan, where they are kept in camps after registration as refugees.

The Afghan government said such people had been given shelter on humanitarian grounds.

After registration, the data about registered IDPs is transferred to Nadra for verification. And once that is done, the government will disburse cash to the affected people living off camps across the country.

The evacuation of civilian population from North Waziristan has come to a halt since the security forces began ground offensive in Mirali and Miramshah areas.

The FDMA has set up additional registration points in Peshawar and Bannu for listing the people, who had left homes before the Zarb-i-Azb operation.

The federal government had initially announced each displaced family would get Rs12,000 for purchasing monthly ration and non-food items.

Later during a visit to the IDPs’ distribution centre in Bannu, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif had announced that the grant had been increased to Rs20,000, while Rs20,000 would be paid as Ramazan package.

Sources said additional amount announced by the prime minister had not been transferred so far.

Apart from cash grant, the World Food Programme is also distributing food rations, while the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees is providing non-food items to IDPs.

A handout issued here on Saturday said relief camp had also been established which would work under the Provincial Disaster Management Authority and would support the district administration in relief activities.

It said the PDMA had requested all deputy commissioners to constitute committees at district level to gather the relevant information about displaced persons living with relatives.

“The data will be used for security (purposes) as well as provision of relief and cash to IDPs,” it said.

Published in Dawn, July 6th , 2014