The Corona Virus has made the entire international community halt their daily lives and routines. Pakistan has also been a victim of the virus as over 800 cases have already been reported. As a result of the coronavirus outbreak, the National Database and Regulation Authority (NADRA) has announced that they have halted their working across the country.
The decision was made by NADRA in an effort to avoid large gatherings of people across the country which includes ensuring their employees remain outside their offices and stay in Quarantine at their homes all across Pakistan. According to the official report posted by NADRA said that around 50,000 people visit NADRA offices daily for the renewal of their ID cards. Hence, it is imperative to halt operations as if the services are not stopped, this could exponentially increase the chance of citizens being effected by the virus.
Currently, with the current response of the country to prevent the virus, NADRA have stated that their will be no issuance of identity cards nor renewal until 5th April. However, they did go on to add that they have come up with a temporary solution for the time being as they will increase the validity of all the CNICs that expired after 1st September 2019 or are due to expire by 30th June 2020, till 1st July 2020. The second article of the announcement stated that it is particularly communicated to all applications visiting NADRA Offices for the purpose of renewal of their National Identity Cards and to all relevant stakeholders.
NADRA hope that operations will resume as soon as the situation gets better as they might announce another extension if the condition prevails. By now, almost all provinces have announced the shut down of all public offices and institutes for a duration of 2-3 weeks that will last till April 5th for the time being.
