Skip to main content

Tariq Malik resigns as Nadra chief

ISLAMABAD: Tariq Malik on Tuesday resigned from his position as chairman of the National Database and Registration Authority (Nadra), a year before the completion of his three-year term. The resignation was submitted by him during a meeting with Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif. The resignation came months after a controversy over the leak of data regarding the family of a army chief, entailing action against some employees by Mr Malik. “I find it increasingly difficult to work in a charged and polarised political environment. It is difficult for any professional to maintain his integrity and independence in an environment that constantly pigeon-holes people in an ‘us versus them’ logic and where political loyalty is privileged over competence,” read the three-page resignation, whose copy is available with Dawn. Mr Malik in his resignation pleaded to the prime minister not to appoint a serving or retired bureaucrat as his replacement and instead pick a professional and technical person for the job. “The organisation deserves a thorough professional with a background in technology and management,” he said, adding that Nadra cannot afford further political experimentation. He said during his short stints at Nadra, he tried to serve the country to the best of his abilities and beyond narrow party or institutional interests. “I was selected to lead the organisation after a highly competitive process involving over 100 applicants and multiple rounds of interviews. At the time I was serving as the chief technical adviser of the UNDP headquarters in New York, US, advising member states on digital governance. “In that capacity, I had the privilege of observing and shaping from close quarters the digitalisation of many rich and poor countries, anchored in digital ID. I also had the honour of shaping the global standards for digital ID at the World Bank. In the course of fulfilling various global assignments, Pakistan remained my first passion and foremost commitment. In this context, I was pleased to have played a humble part in contributing to the development of an organization that forms the backbone of Pakistan’s development,” he said. Mr Malik was appointed Nadra chairman for a second time in June 2021, by the then PTI government. He had reportedly been facing immense pressure from the interior minister to resign after reports emerged that some officials of the authority had been found involved in leaking personal data of army chief and his family. “PM during the meeting appreciated the services of [Mr] Malik,” said a statement issued by Nadra. The official sources said that the premier also requested him to help the government, by utilising his expertise, in increasing tax net. Earlier in the day, Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah addressing a press conference said that the resignation of Nadra chairman had nothing to do with the data leak issue. “He was facing no pressure to resign,” he asserted, adding that action had already been taken against all those involved in the data leak. Published in Dawn, June 14th, 2023
http://dlvr.it/Sqf7bM

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

3 drug pushers, bootlegger held

Islamabad :Islamabad Industrial Area Police have arrested three drug pushers and a bootlegger besides recovery of narcotics and 120 liter liquor from them, a police spokesman said.According to details, a police team of Industrial Area police station arrested three drug pushers namely Kamran, Irfan and Shamoon Masih and recovered 320 gram heroin and 210 gram hashish from them,.Another police team arrested a bootlegger namely Ansar Javed and recovered 120 liter wine, bottles, stickers and brewing equipment from him. Cases have been registered against these nabbed persons and further investigation is underway from them.SP (Industrial Area) Zubair Ahmad Shaikh has said that Industrial Area zone police is doing its job efficiently and crackdown against criminals would be continued.Despite the sit in, he said Islamabad Police has been performing its duty quite efficiently and has successfully managed to maintain the daily life in the Capital.In this regard, Senior Police officers including S...
Post a Comment
Read more

‘Aziz Bhatti Shaheed My Brother, My Hero’

Real heroes are heroes of every one. They are not controversial. Nations love them more than anything. Major Aziz Bhatti Shaheed is among those real-time heroes of 1965 War, who not only stood firm to face the enemy aggression but also repulsed it with his unprecedented courage. He gave his life while defending the frontiers of motherland but never let the enemy succeed in its nefarious designs. The proud nation awarded him with ‘Nishan-i-Haider’, the biggest gallantry award of the country. Now that more than 54 years have passed, since he embraced Shahadat, he continues to live in the hearts of each and every Pakistani. Aziz Bhatti is remembered with love and affection. Nation observes his Yaum-e-Shahadat on 12th of September in a befitting manner.This year was significant in a sense that his younger brother Sardar Ahmed Bhatti (95 years old now) presented this nation a book named ‘Aziz Bhatti Shaheed My Brother My Hero’. This book is classic and unique in a way that it unearths many ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Pragmatic steps taken to implement Axle Load Control regime on NH&MP

Islamabad: Ministry of Communications has taken pragmatic steps to implement the Axle Load Control regime on Motorways & National Highways in the country. Sole objective of this move is to control travelling of overloaded vehicles which lead to fatal accidents besides damaging the national asset of road network of billions of rupees.Prior to implementation of axle load control regime, a technical committee was formed, consisting of officers from Ministry of Communications and National Highway Authority which remained in constant contacts with transport community, Members of the Chambers of Commerce and stakeholders hailing from all the provinces. This technical committee visited their offices and held detailed discussions in series of meetings and took them into confidence to facilitate implementation of Axle Load Control regime. The stakeholders assured of their full cooperation and subsequently, implementation of Axle Load Control was realized which is in progress.It is worth to ...
Post a Comment
Read more