BOONI: The office of National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA) in Booni lacks basic facilities for people coming to get new national identity cards or other papers renewed or amended.
This office serves the whole of Upper Chitral up to Broghil in the Yarkhun valley and every morning, especially at the beginning of the week, a large number of applicants, including women, assemble outside the office. They come for far-off areas and after reaching here have to endure long wait for their turn.
But unlike NADRA offices in urban areas where the applicants wait for their turn at different counters and are called in accordance with a computerized token number issued to each of them, the Booni office no system to facilitate the citizens.
Applicants complain that they are kept waiting outside whole those who have connections or acquaintances in the office are called inside without any token number.
Moreover, the NADRA office also does not have a proper waiting centre. Women who come from far-off areas also face problem as there is no bathroom for them.
Nowadays there crowds of people could be seen outside the office and most of the people are coming from different villages to get their fingerprints renewed after the NADRA system did not recognize or verify them for receiving cash being given by the federal government under the Ehsaas emergency cash programme.
The applicants told ChitralToday that the office opens at 10am these days which also creates problems for them as they reach the office early but by the time they get their work done they face problems in getting transport to return to their areas as transporters depart from Booni by 2pm to 3pm.
The applicants demanded that offices of the registration authority should be opened in their areas such as Mastuj and Brep to facilitate the locals and minimize the work load on the office in Booni.–Karim Ullah