BOONI (CHITRAL): Sher Nadir, a 41-year-old man from Sor Lapspur valley, seems exhausted and angry, not after travelling the long distance to Booni to get his CNIC renewed but due to the unprofessional attitude of the NADRA staff. Talking to chitraltoday.net outside the NADRA office, he said he had also brought his family for registration to get CNICs but spent the whole day outside without being even allowed into the office. He alleged that the NADRA staff was entertaining their relatives and acquaintances but turning away other people on different pretext. “We have reached here after travelling a long journey of five to six hours but the officials seem working only for their relatives.” According to him, one of the staff members even told a man that if he was not from her in-laws, she would not have done his work so quickly. He said the applicant the NADRA staff was talking to had even no receipt issued from the NADRA staff. Sher Nadir was not the only one who bitterly complained against the NADRA staff. There were scores of people coming here from far-flung areas of Mastuj like Yarkhun, Torkhow and Morkhow valleys who seemed angry with the system of working and staff attitude. Another man from Gohkir said one of the officials was sending a peon out to take his relatives inside, ignoring the other applicants. An old man from Chuing told chitraltoday.net that it was very difficult for them to come here on a daily basis, especially taking women along, from the far-off areas of Mastuj. He said taxi vehicles were always filled with passengers. He also said when light goes out, the NADRA office has no generator so the staff stops working on their computers. The residents appealed to the authorities concerned to take steps to ensure that the citizens easily get the basic document without any trouble. They also demanded that the staff should be trained to deal with the applicants in a professional manner.]]>
Shams Ahmad rightly said there is no proper sitting or waiting area in Booni, especially for women. Sitting along the road is against dignity of the citizens when they come to get their CNICs. Public servants should treat the citizens politely and courteously.
I agree with my friends to some extent. But the question here is why we the Chitralis are everywhere taken for granted. In my view whatever happens to us is because of our own fault. In NADRA and other department’s case, it is us to be blamed. Actually, we have failed to know our rights as citizens of this country. Remember not long time ago how we were treated at the PIA Peshawar and Chitral offices. I have seen through my own eyes that many of the Chitralis carried the load of dry fruits and Pakhol etc., all the way from Chitral to Peshawar Saddar office of the PIA and presented it to the lowly clerks to win a seat on the airline especially in winters. I used to be ashamed of their servant-like attitude before the PIA clerks as though these PIA employees were their masters. I have many times discussed such meekly attitude of the Chitralis but every time got the abrupt answer that we are civilized (sharif) people. No, Sharafat is different and this is poor cowardice. When someone is treating you like an animal, where your ghairat as a proud Chitrali vanishes? This is also the reason why in today’s world we are neglected when it comes to our basic rights. Look at the people of Gilgit-Baltistan how they have been fighting for their rights as a nation. Today they have all the basic amenities of life. They get the basic food items like wheat at much lower rate than us. When I cross the Shandur pass into the Ghizer district, I can see the 100 bag of wheat available for less than 1,500 rupees. How much it cost you in Chitral, by the way? It is very shameful that today we have fallen so low that we are crying that a clerk is mistreating us and that too inside our own villages. I want to appeal to my Chitrali friends to realize the fact that in today’s world if we failed to have courage and raise voice for our rights, soon even our very existence as a nation would be at danger.
I would suggest to all my friends to greet such unprofessional and discourteaus officials with shoes. Then you will see how things improve – right in front of your eyes. Same has been the the case with the staff of most of other government and even private departments, including banks.
The First Microfinance Bank Mastuj is one of the examples where one official often misbehave with people. One day I went there to collect some money sent by a friend from Pindi and he resorted to the same treatment totally unaware of my bad temper. However, when I gave him a strong dose in the shape of a big slap, he came to his senses. Not only he became 100 per cent professional but his manager also came to my help and offered me a cup of tea with biscuits plus unconditional apology. This is the only solution to bring such people to their senses. These officials especially in public sector organizations consider themselves as masters of the poor people. They are paid by the government to serve us, not humiliate us and if we fail to know our right then these people continue to disgrace the citizens.
Not only in Booni, but NADRA staff in Chitral is also treating their customers in a derogatory and contemptuous manner. Long queues can be seen outside the NADRA office with its staff sitting idle inside and keeping the people waiting on different pretext on the footpath. It is unfortunate that NADRA staff in other parts of the country are so courteous but when we come to Chitral, these very Chitrali employees do not consider their own people even human being.
This report also shows the real face of the NADRA officials who are resorting nepotism and promoting favortisim in the so-called office.
This report has raised two major issues which need to be addressed. One is that only one office is not enough for upper Chitral region. People from far-off areas like like Yarkhun, Laspur, and Torkhow are facing lots of hardship travelling to and from Booni just to get the CNIC. There is a need for at least one more office in Mastuj region so that people from Yarkhun and other parts of upper Chitral can have easy access to the service. Second and the most important part of the problem is the irresponsible attitude of the employees of NADRA. People in public sector departments are supposed to serve the people without any discrimination. No one is supposed to do personal favors at public service institutions. There should be a proper check and balance system in such institutions. Such attitude on part of public servers in Chitral is really discouraging to learn. We are known for our fairness and justice in our duties all over Pakistan, so public servants in Chitral should also be a role model. We can’t afford to earn a bad name for any institution in Chitral.
It is not for the first time, NADRA staff has been so unprofessional towards thje public. I myself have been a victim of this attitude in NADRA regional office Chitral. They should change their attitude otherwise they will find the peaceful public of Chitral very aggressive.