THATTA, Jan 17: Fourteen days have been left in the Jan 31 deadline for applying for a Computerized National Identity Card but only 21 per cent of the population in the district have been issued the cards so far.

The district registration officer, Nadra Swift Registration Centre, Thatta, Attaullah Rizvi, told this correspondent on Saturday that over 116,830 applications were being scrutinized, 4,000 were pending and 7,155 cards were ready for delivery to concerned distribution centres.

He said one each NSRC had been set up in Mirpur Bathoro, Sujawal, Jati, Shah Bunder, Mirpur Sakro, Thatta and Ghorabari which were covering nine talukas.

He said the reasons for low turnout at NSCRs in remote areas were poverty and illiteracy as a bread earner of a family, which usually comprised over a dozen dependents, could not afford the Computerized National Identity Card fee.

This correspondent interviewed about a dozen applicants who said Nadra had assigned its representatives in early days for collecting relevant forms.

They said the representatives issued them receipts but they had still not been delivered their CNICs.

RAIN VICTIMS: Hundreds of people of the district whose houses were damaged during the 2003 monsoon are awaiting compensation despite the lapse of six months.

The district administration in coordination with the relief committee had conducted a survey which said 2,603 houses were partially or completely damaged and allocated Rs80 million for compensating the people for their losses.