THIS is with reference to the letter `Plea to Nadra` (March 3). The complainant has stated that the National Database and Registration Authority (Nadra) denied a differently-abled person (monocular) his right to a CNIC for special persons.
First, it is pertinent to mention that in order to be eligible for a CNIC for special persons one must provide proof in the form of a Disability Certificate issued by the Provincial Council Rehabilitation of Disabled Persons of the provincial government. Nadra is not a medical body nor can it verify the authenticity of disabilities without the approval of the institution concerned.
To obtain a disability certificate, a medical checkup is conducted by a medical board at social welfare offices in districts across the country, and it is only when this certificate has been issued that a citizen can apply for a special CNIC.
The Nadra Chairman took immediate notice of this letter and directed the staff to contact the applicant who was contacted several times. However, Nadra found that the applicant was reluctant to provide the disability certificate nor was he willing to provide it to the officials concerned at the time he was contacted.
Instead he was exerting pressure on Nadra staff into processing his CNIC solely upon medical prescriptions.
Nadra does not carry the mandate to issue Special CNICs independently. It is simply the institution that processes cases based on certifiable medical evidence.
This requirement acts as a safeguard to protect the rights of genuine differently abled persons who avail themselves of special advantages from the Special CNIC such as concession on air travel, financial entitlement to loans and free medical treatment, to name a few.
This is a request to the citizen concerned to provide the necessary evidence in the form of a disability certificate issued by the department concerned. Thereafter, Nadra will be in a position to process his CNIC for special persons.
