Mismanagement mars IDPs’ registration process in Peshawar

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Registration process repeatedly disturbed due to a large number of IDPs, closed two hours before announced time

Mismanagement in the registration process for Internally Displaced Persons (IDP’s) of North Waziristan has irked the applicants, leading to skirmishes between the IDPs and personnel of the law enforcement agencies.

Following the military offensive, Operation Zarb-e-Azb, launched in NWA to eliminate terrorists, many tribesmen from NWA have shifted to Peshawar and other cities and town.

FATA Disaster Management Authority (FDMA) initiated IDPs’ registration at Government College for Commerce and Management, Hayatabad, Peshawar on Monday, seeking to enable the displaced tribesmen to get assistance. FDMA Deputy Director Dr Haseeb said that the registration process will continue till July 14.

According to reports, the first day was allocated for tribesmen from Miranshah but tribesmen from all over NWA thronged the registration centre. They arrived before well before 8am, the official starting time for the registration process, and formed long queues to get registered.

Due to the excessive load of people and mismanagement, the registration process was repeatedly disturbed and law enforcers were called in to control the people. The registration process was finally suspended at 2pm, two hours before the official closing time.

Akhtar Rasool, a tribal elder from NWA who is living in Islamabad, said that he arrived at around 7am and remained part of the queue till 2pm. “Due to the rush and mismanagement, I was unable to get myself registered,” he said.

A similar complaint was made by Muhammad Shah hailing from Shawa tehsil of NWA. He alleged kickbacks in the process of registration, demanding that the government streamline the process.

The FDMA deputy director has attributed the mismanagement to the “race amongst reporters of various news channels media for getting the best footages”.

“The reporters and cameramen were trying to get as close as possible to the registration booths to cover the process,” he said, adding that the media personnel crowded the registration booths, hampering the process.

The FDMA deputy director said another reason for the overcrowding and resultant mismanagement was that “many of the tribesmen who showed up for registration were already registered but insisted on getting themselves registered at Peshawar”.

The FDMA deputy director insisted that the arrangements were complete and comprehensive. He said that 12 booths were established for males and four for females.

He said that a private telecommunication company is issuing specials SIMS to the IDPs which can be used by the IDPs to receive cash assistance. Haseeb said that the scrutiny of SIMS and registration cards is in progress, adding that the IDPs would get the cash amount in the next few days.

Besides Peshawar, the registration process of NWA IDPs is also in progress at Bannu.

According to the FDMA, the number of registered IDPs has swelled to 752,320 individuals from 58,663 families and the number is expected to increase as thousands of tribesmen are now approaching the IDP registration centers.