National digital ID issuance for Pakistanis ramping up

Production of Pakistan’s digital national ID card has doubled, from 60 thousand to 125 thousand per day. The ID cards and other digital programs are important to the central government, which wants to be more focused on delivering services to its citizens.

The National Advanced Database Regulatory Authority is responsible for pushing out the biometric ID cards and expanding access to them nationwide. The agency plans to open 771 registration centers and deploy 222 mobile registration vans, according to local news publication ProPakistani.

The government claims that new ID has 36 security features, and it was created using international standards.

The production boost follows a broad expansion of Pakistan’s digital ID program under NADRA, including recently to provide access to health care.

There is at least one part of Pakistani’s population who are not seeing the same enthusiasm about getting biometric IDs: prisoners.

A federal ombudsman in Pakistan is saying that “proper functioning” biometric ID systems must be installed in all jails in the nation’s northwest province. And the government is also investigating more than 8,000 alleged instances of ID fraud.

Article Topics

biometrics  |  digital ID  |  digital ID cards  |  identity management  |  NADRA  |  national ID  |  Pakistan