The federal government announced Muhammad Tariq Malik’s appointment as chairman of the National Database and Registration Authority on Monday (NADRA).
Malik has been appointed head of the NADRA for a three-year term, according to a notification published by the Ministry of Interior.
“In exercise of the authority conferred by section 3 (3) of the National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA) Ordinance 2000, the Competent Authority is pleased to appoint Muhammad Tariq Malik as Chairman, NADRA for a three-year term in accordance with Section 3 (5) of the NADRA Ordinance, 2000, with immediate effect and until further orders,” the statement states.
On June 8, the federal cabinet confirmed Tariq Malik’s appointment as NADRA chairman.
Briefing the media on the federal cabinet’s decisions, Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry stated that the cabinet approved the summary prepared by the Ministry of Interior about Malik’s nomination as NADRA chairman.
The chairmanship of NADRA has been vacant since February, when Usman Yousaf Mobin stepped down following the completion of his three-year second term.
The Ministry of the Interior then named Brigadier Khalid Latif (retd) as acting chairman, after soliciting applications from prospective candidates.
Meanwhile, the NADRA spokesman shrugged aside reports in certain sectors of the media about the incumbent chairman’s supposed 20,000-dollar compensation.
He stated that it was a fraud and false news, as the Pakistani government does not pay government employees in dollars.
The authority board of NADRA, on the other hand, was a competent platform for deciding on the newly-appointed chairman’s emoluments, the official noted.
Tariq Malik was the United Nations Development Program’s principal technical advisor (UNDP).
He has resigned from his current post at the United Nations Development Programme.
He is expected to assume the chairmanship of NADRA very shortly, according to a NADRA official.
Tariq Malik formerly served as head of NADRA and as a senior technical consultant at the World Bank.
He was a founding member of the core team that helped establish the global “ID for Development” (ID4D) programme and created the framework for international standards for digital identity.