History of Pakistani National Identity Card and Passport

[jayerjes]

Dear Friends,

This is my first ever thread that I am starting. I thought the start should be non-siasi and about history related to Pakistani identity. I am less informed as to when the National Identity Card and the Passports were first ever issued in Pakistan. If anyone knows about history and changes in the implementation / laws, please share.

Thanks,

Best regards,

Jayerjes

 

[Ebrahiem]

Dear Jayerjes,

I have some information in this regard which I'd like to share with you

1973: The very first system of Identity cards in Pakistan were introduced in 1973 and it was paper-based and manual.

1999: National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA) was established in 1999 which started to establish Nationwide Datawarehouse.

2002: Online Enrolment and Biometric started-up in 2002.

2004: The online verification service was launched and face and fingerprint identification systems were introduced.

2009: 100 Million identities were issued, for good governance and national security system, law enforcement and social support

2010: Smart identity cards, automated transparent, and secure issuance

Currently 47 Million (99%) men and 34 Million (79%) women are covered.

 

[jayerjes]

Hi Ebrahiem,

Thanks for sharing timeline of National Identity Cards issuance in Pakistan. The timeline indicates that our grand fathers did not have any Identity Cards before 1973. This raises several questions regarding the governing of public and private businesses. Was there any system / way / mechanism that helped in true and genuine identification of the people who were the true owners / claimants of property etc. How the tax system worked for both individuals and businesses?

It is indeed very interesting to relate the identification with everyday life activities. Moreover, if no one paid any taxes in any form (what ever the taxes were called/named before 1973), how the government functioned and our society used to be rich (I would say) at that time as we all know one earning man could feed several (sometimes more than 10) souls at home.

Thanks again for sharing timeline.

I would also like to see what is the history of our Passport. I am sure some intellectual will share here.

Jayerjes

 

[Ebrahiem]

And yes, regarding Pakistani passport, it is important to mention here that use of passports were introduced in after the first world war. Before that, there was no need of having a passport for cross-country travel. Passport in British India was introduced through Indian Passport Act which covered (today's) India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and India. This passport had a limited usage and valid only for travel within British Empire, Italy, Switzerland, Austria, Czechoslovakia, Germany, France, Spain, Norway, Sweden and Holland (where you live :)). After Pakistan was founded, the use of British Indian passport was discontinued and first ever Pakistani passport was issued to Muhammad Asad (Hungarian and born Jew later converted to Islam) and this was issued on the order of Liaquat Ali Khan.

It is noteworthy that in 2004, Pakistan became one of the the first countries to issue the Biometric Passport and more than 7 Million passports have been issued by now.

 

[Ebrahiem]

Nice questions. We had no id cards prior to 1973 but please note that there are countries where official authorities do not issue ID cards, and they use other forms of cards. These countries include Australia, India, Denmark, Ireland, Japan, New Zealand, Norway, Phillipines, UK.

ID cards were issued under National Registration Bill 1939 during the second world war (of course for various war related reasons).

We can think that prior to the introduction of a proper ID card system in Pakistan, there was still some form of identification for tax and property purposes. Of course, that would not have been a consolidated database of all the citizen but property claims could be made on some sort of other identity document (not necessarily today's NIC card). Back in those times like today, people were still required to register births at city council, though that was not done properly and adequately.

Therefore, we Pakistanis have a consolidated system of National Identity Card with multi-Biometric and e-passport solution which many modern countries don't have!

 

[jayerjes]

Thanks for two more thread replies. You turned out to be the only intellectual to help me get information regarding NIC and Passport history.
I agree with you that Pakistan is not backward country or a nation. However, we have big divisions within the infra-structure. That would be another discussion, I will keep that discussion for other thread.

I also agree with you that before 1973, though there wasn't any National Identity Card means of identification, there would have been some form/way of doing public and private businesses. Like you said, people must have used several different identifications for different purposes. As need for centralization of information grew, systems of National Identity were introduced. That means we are growing exponentially but still we need a well-versed, stable, and strong architecture/base to support of our both growing (already identified) and unseen (unidentified) future needs.

Can we list the forms/mechanisms for various purposes and in different walks of life used as identification of people in Pakistan?

For example:
1. Matric Certificate for Issuance of Passport (So matric certificate is itself an important identification certificate). Those who do not have matric certificate what do they do?

I invite all the views to update list by appending the list numerically. If the information is incomplete in any row, please update that row, if you have more information or more correct information.

Thanks,

 

[famamdani]

Hi Ebrahiem,

Thanks for sharing timeline of National Identity Cards issuance in Pakistan. The timeline indicates that our grand fathers did not have any Identity Cards before 1973. This raises several questions regarding the governing of public and private businesses. Was there any system / way / mechanism that helped in true and genuine identification of the people who were the true owners / claimants of property etc. How the tax system worked for both individuals and businesses?

It is indeed very interesting to relate the identification with everyday life activities. Moreover, if no one paid any taxes in any form (what ever the taxes were called/named before 1973), how the government functioned and our society used to be rich (I would say) at that time as we all know one earning man could feed several (sometimes more than 10) souls at home.

Thanks again for sharing timeline.

I would also like to see what is the history of our Passport. I am sure some intellectual will share here.

Jayerjes

was ration card at the time.............sugar ghee was on ration depo and u become pro family members kota.........limit......:)

 

[BuTurabi]

@Ebrahiem, @jayerjes,​

Are you guys twin?

 

[Ebrahiem]

@Ebrahiem, @jayerjes,​

​

i am a bot, how about you?

 

[BuTurabi]

i am a bot, how about you?

Same here . . . . :biggthumpup: