Comparative Public Administration

Identified Ethical dilemma in “NADRA”

Submitted by

Saif Aslam (Roll no.48)

Section B (MPA executive)

Submitted to

Prof. Dr. Aamir Saeed

18 April 2019

Institute of Administrative Sciences University of the Punjab

New Campus, Lahore

 Ethical Dilemma in NADRA

Introduction:

NADRA (National Database and Registration Authority) is one of the top integrator systems which
were established in 2000. Initially it was named as National Database Organization. This
organization is an attach department which is functional under the Ministry of Interior,
Government of Pakistan. NADRA started issuing bio matric identity card in 2000 and replaced the
paper identification card which was practiced from 1973.

NADRA is one of the largest IT Company in Pakistan having 11000 Technical staff and
management staffs. Pakistan NADRA was remained among top fifty companies in 2005 and 2006
in secure solution integration.

Mission Statement of NADRA:

NADRA mission statement says, “To create and maintain a secure, authentic and dynamic
database that comprehensively covers the demographic, social and statistical aspects of the citizens
of Pakistan and provides to our own and foreign government’s effective homeland security
solutions and assistance in good governance. We shall develop ourselves as ‘Learning
organization’ in a culture that fosters creativity, innovation, commitment, dedication, continuous
improvement and desire to excel by its employees”.

Budget /Revenue Sources

NADRA is a semi-autonomous body and generate its revenue by providing different

services and products to different local and international clients.

Ethical Dilemma in NADRA:

The gap or loophole existing in Public administration between indigenous social ethics and
exogenous administrative ethics is called ethical dilemma. Ethical dilemmas exist in public sector
institutions where two different practices conflicts with each other for example use of business-
like practices or NPM model for providing the most basic services to the citizens of the state.
The institution in which I have identified the ethical dilemma is “NADRA”. NADRA works under
the ministry of interior government of the Pakistan. NADRA is semi-autonomous body responsible
for providing the identity documents to the national and non-nationals of Pakistan.

At the beginning most of the services provided by the NADRA was free of cost because
providing the identity to its citizens is the most basic service a state can provide. Also, it is in the
constitution of Pakistan that state will provide identity to all its citizens.

Later, Pakistan adopted business like practices in most of its public sector institutions under
the NPM reforms and with the implementation of NPM reforms in public sector institutions, they
started to emphasis on revenue collection rather than providing this compulsory free service to all
its citizens. Some years ago, NADRA was providing the national identity card to citizens of
Pakistan for free of cost but now after adoption of business-like practices a new smart NIC would
cost citizens Rs750, urgent one would be for Rs1,500 and the executive NIC would cost Rs2,500.
If you want to get family registration certificate (FRC) then you must pay Rs 500.

In this practice business like practices is conflicting with the indigenous social ethics
because business like ethics will not provide a common citizen with a very basic need which should
be provided free of cost from the state, but adoption of these ethics disturbs the whole scenario
badly.

By adopting business practices in public service is no doubt generating revenue for

government and NADRA for their expenses but on the other hand this practice is also causing a
problem for the citizens where most of its citizens belong to the lower middle class or lower class
who cannot even afford proper food to feed themselves and their family, then how can they afford
these type of identity documents which should be provide free of cost from the state to its citizens.

To know more about this dilemma and to do critical analysis of this situation, I have
interviewed 3 officials in NADRA offices in Lahore region. The interview method was personal
detailed interview. All the three interviews were conducted with the “assistant directors” at three
different offices in Lahore.
Directions for the Interviews:

These interviews focus on some very basic questions which were related to ethical
dilemma. Questions directions were as follows:

 Introduction of the officer, his education and his service duration in NADRA
 Understanding and knowledge of the officer about the concept of “ethical dilemma”
 Do you face any ethical dilemma during your service?
 How often do you face ethical dilemma in your routine work?
 What do you think the main reasons behind this ethical dilemma?
 What would you suggest as a public administrator to tackle with this ethical dilemma.

Analysis of the interviews:

First interview was taken from the NADRA office ‘Jallo Mor’ branch where Mr. Aamir
Waheed (assistant director) contribute very meaningfully in the interview and gave me the very
valuable information for practical understanding of this ethical dilemma. As the understanding of
Mr. Aamir Waheed about this concept was very good so he contributed a lot without any hesitation.

When I asked him about the dilemma existing in their organization Aamir explained very
well. according to Aamir “Some of the lower-class people can’t afford our fee for their most basic
documents. They complain everyday about our fee charges and say we can’t afford fee to get our
documents. After adopting business ethics no doubt, we become independent in our expenses and
we got revenues from charging people for providing services to them but on the other hand that
policy cause a problem for the poor a or lower class of our country. Now they must pay the charges
for getting our services. I think we can consider this situation as ethical dilemma where two options
have equal importance but choosing one option is cause damage to the other”. He explained very
well as he was aware very well about these terms.

When I asked about the solution about this dilemma Aamir explained that “this policy
should be change slightly so that everyone can avail our services according to their income and
purchasing power. For example, the fee charges for lower or middle lower class can be decrease
as compare with upper class or upper middle class. In this way everyone will get our services
according to purchasing power and the lower class will also be accommodate in this way”.
Second interview was taken from the NADRA office ‘Samna bad’ branch where Moeed Ahmad
(assistant director) also contribute very meaningfully in the interview and gave very valuable
information for practical understanding of this ethical dilemma. When asked about this policy shift
and ethical dilemma his views were “Of course, there was a policy shift we have experienced some
years ago in charges fee for providing services to customers. This is something I can feel most of
the time when I see some peoples came for the FRC’s (family registration) certificate or any other
services. NADRA is charging fees for almost all the services except one or two services”. His
views were same as the Amir. When asked about solution or suggestions to meet with this dilemma
his remarks were “To some extent this situation is not favourable for some people who do not
afford the fees but most of the peoples can afford the fees. I think there will be a special package
for the poor who cannot afford the fees”.

Third and last interview was conducted with Faiz Ali who is working as an assistant
director at Ghazi road branch NADRA office Lahore. Faiz views were different from the first two
interviewees. According to him he doesn’t feel that the prices are too high for the services which
are being provided by the NADRA. He said that he is working in an area where most of the peoples
can afford easily the charges fee of Nadra. At first, he was not agreeing or ready consider this
situation as a dilemma but when I describe more that these things are not same for all peoples out
there some peoples do not have enough purchasing power to afford these documents, His views
were changed a little bit.

When asked about the solution of this ethical dilemma his views were as follows” I think
This dilemma will still exist in every situation, but it can be reduced to minimum level by
exempting the residents of remote areas from charging fee”.

All the three interviewees were agreed that they are facing this dilemma in their daily
routines and suggests that it is need of time to provide compensation to the neediest and who
cannot afford for fee charges.
Conclusion:

Third world countries always ignore their local scenarios while adopting any policies and import
policies from the developed countries. Due to such factor the citizens of third world countries
always suffers a lot. Imported policies very rarely serve the public cause instead of this the
imported policies and techniques always affect public very badly.

Pakistan also adopted these types of policies from developed countries taken this as a
solution of their problems and to achieve efficiency and effectiveness in public sector. But the
history witnessed that these types of policies badly affected the whole scenario. Two- or three-
decades back Pakistan started to take dictations from developed countries in the policy making
process. In series of these dictations NPM was introduced in Pakistan to achieve efficiency and
productivity. Under the umbrella of NPM Business models and private sector techniques were
introduced in public sector institutions of Pakistan. By adopting these private sector techniques,
the charges against the services provided by the state was also increased. These kinds of changes
can also be seen in NADRA where citizens must pay for their most basic documents.

Social ethics demands that these documents should be provided free of cost from the state
but private sector or profit-making techniques under the umbrella of NPM demands revenue. This
is the point where adopting one technique is causing the damage to the other one. The same
situation is occurred in NADRA’s case where in past years fee charges increases for the sake of
revenues but on the other hand, these increases in fee charges create troubles for lower class.

Now in the current situation an ethical dilemma has been occurred in which social ethics
is conflicting with business like practices which were imported under the umbrella of NPM. When
I interviewed NADRA’s officers to take more insight of this issue, most of them were agreed on
this point that these practices are conflicting with social ethics. They suggest that the lower class
of our society should be exempted from any kind of fee charges imposed by the state.

In my opinion government should consider all classes of the society while making or
adopting any policy to avoid any dilemmas in future. Importing any policies from developed
countries on the basis that these police are successful in developed countries is a big flaw of policy
making institutions. Policies which are made according to the local scenarios are always
successful. Government Should consider factors including purchasing power of their citizens,
customs, values, traditions, before making any Policy. Policy which will be made without
considering these factors will never satisfy the citizens of a state and as a result these kind of
policies results as a disruption in developing coutries.
 Transcription of the Interview no:1
Interviewer: Can you start by telling me your background and about how you arrived at your current
position?

Interviewee: I will start with my introduction. My name is Amir Waheed I have done BS hons in
management sciences from institute of administrative science year 2004-2008. Apart from my
studies I was working as a part timer in Descon IT as a document processing operator in year 2006
after a year I was promoted as floor supervisor and after some months I was acting Shift in-charge
in a project. Then I joined abacus Consultancy who was providing voice and semi-voice services
to the Telenor network as a Team leader. I had also applied in NADRA as Assistant Director and
was joined NADRA on 26th August 2009.My duration in this institution is almost 10 years.

Interviewer: So, you have very rich experience in this organization. Have you seen any changes
in that duration during your service?

Interviewee: Yes, I have seen many changes in NADRA policy during my service which includes
structural and organizational changes.

Interviewer: What you think these changes were positive for this organization or have bad impact
on organizational performance?

Interviewee: Some changes were very good and benefited our organization while some changes
have both positive and negative consequences.

Interviewer: Do you have any knowledge or understanding about what is an ethical dilemma?

Interviewee: Yes, I’m aware by the concept of ethical dilemma. In my everyday routine of work,
I have faced many ethical dilemmas. Sometimes it’s about abuses of power sometimes it’s about
social ethics vs administrative ethics.

Interviewer: let’s talk about the second dilemma which is Social ethics vs business like practices.
Because I have already identified this dilemma in your organization. I hope you will comfortable
with this.
Interviewee: Yes, why not. You can ask anything you want to ask.

Interviewer: How often you noticed this ethical dilemma in your organization and in what
situations you face this ethical dilemma?

Interviewee: Since our job is related to public dealing and we must interact with public on daily
basis. We face different ethical dilemmas on daily basis including abuse of power and indigenous
social ethics vs business like practices in NADRA. Some years ago, our organization changed our
policy regarding fee charges for different services we provide to public. That was no doubt a policy
made with the principles of NPM. After adopting that policy, we face ethical dilemmas most of
the time. NADRA started charging fee for the most basic documents which should be provided
free from the government, but government choose to make revenues and running NADRA on their
own revenues.

Interviewer: Could you please describe more so I can identify the situation where you face ethical
dilemma in your daily routine work as a public administrator?

Interviewee: As you already know that some years ago the charges for our services was minimum
or free of cost but after adopting business ethics in our organization our services are become
expensive. Some of the lower-class people can’t afford our fee for their most basic documents.
They complain everyday about our fee charges and say we can’t afford fee to get our documents.
After adopting business ethics no doubt, we become independent in our expenses and we got
revenues from charging people for providing services to them but on the other hand that policy
cause a problem for the poor a or lower class of our country. Now they must pay the charges for
getting our services. I think we can consider this situation as ethical dilemma where two options
have equal importance but choosing one option is cause damage to the other.

Interviewer: Thank you so much for such detailed explanation. In the end I want you to suggest
some measure which will decrease the bad effects of this policy.

Interviewee: I think this policy should be change slightly so that everyone can avail our services
according to the income. For example, the fee charges for lower or middle lower class can be
decrease as compare with upper class or upper middle class. In this way everyone will get our
services according to purchasing power and the lower class will also be accommodate in this way.
Interviewer: Thank you so much for valuable time Sir.
 Transcription of the Interview no:2

Interviewer: Thank you so much for sparing time for the interview. Can you start by telling me your
background and about how you arrived at your current position?

Interviewee: You welcome. I have done MBA in 2007 and serving NADRA as an assistant
director for last 10 years.

Interviewer: Did you see any changes in policies of NADRA in that tenure?

Interviewee: Yes, I have seen many changes in policies of NADRA from the day I joined this
organization to till date.

Interviewer: What Kind of changes did you see during your services?

Interviewee: The changes were about our corporate designations which were changed into public
sector designations and other structural changes.

Interviewer: Did you see any other changes in policy which is affecting the public in positive or
negative way.

Interviewee: In the beginning there were less offices of NADRA, but the customers were large so
we as a public administrator face many difficulties to handle customers at a large quantity.
Customers also faces many difficulties. They must wait for hours for their turn but later in the
government of PMLN Interior minister Chaudhry Nisar work on this a lot. Now I don’t say all the
problems are solved but yes as compare to past a large number of problems are solved.

Interviewer: Do you familiar with the term Ethical dilemma?

Interviewee: I think I’m familiar with the term, but I have not much knowledge about this.

Interviewer: Ethical dilemma is a situation in which some practice is fulfilling the one cause but
on the other hand, these practices are disturbing the other cause. For example, I have already
identified an ethical dilemma in NADRA. Which is about the policy shift in charges fee of
NADRA for providing services to customers. On The one hand this policy is beneficial for the
government for financial assistance but on the other hand this policy is also affecting the customers
or public who cannot afford to pay for availing these services.

Interviewee: Of course, there was a policy shift we have experienced some years ago in charges

fee for providing services to customers. This is something I can feel most of the time when I see
some peoples came for the FRC’s (family registration) certificate or any other services. NADRA
is charging fees for almost all the services except one or two services.

Interviewer: Do you think this an ethical dilemma which is providing financial benefit to the
government but on the hand, it is creating trouble for peoples?

Interviewee: Yes, it is the situation which is surely indicating an ethical dilemma.

Interviewer: What would you suggest meeting with this ethical dilemma?

Interviewee: To some extent this situation is not favourable for some people who do not afford
the fees but most of the peoples can afford the fees. I think there will be a special package for the
poor who cannot afford the fees.

Interviewer: Thank you so much for your valuable time.

 Transcription of the Interview no:3

Interviewer: Thank you so much for sparing time for the interview. Can you start by telling me your
background and about how you arrived at your current position?

Interviewee: My name is Faiz Ali. I did MBA in 2008 from IBA Punjab university. I have been
working in this organization since 2009.

Interviewer: have you see any changes in policies of NADRA in that tenure?

Interviewee: Yes, I have seen many Policy shifts and changes during that tenure.

Interviewer: What Kind of changes did you see during your service?

Interviewee: I have seen many changes in policies in that tenure. In which strictness regarding
issuance of ID card policy, structural changes in NADRA and many more. Strictness regarding
issuance of ID policy was adopted when most of the afghan refugees made their ID card of Pakistan
on Pakistani identity by bribing the relevant officer. Which was surely a big threat to our national
security so after that incident now NADRA’s policies are stricter than ever before. Another policy
shift was about our designations were changed from corporate to public sector designation. For
example, my designation was changed from assistant manager to assistant director.

Interviewer: But It looks like NADRA’s policies were changed only about ranks. Because in
some past years NADRA adopted many corporate or business-like practices for profit. Due to these
practices the services provided by NADRA now cost too much as compared with past.

Interviewee: I don’t think the prices are too high for the services which NADRA is providing.

Interviewer: Services like FRC and ID card (smart id card) cost too much for poor and those who
do not afford.

Interviewee: I agree poor cannot afford but there are very rare peoples who cannot afford this.

Interviewer: Do you think these documents should provide free of cost from the state to its citizens
because these documents are everyone’s need.
Interviewee: I’m working in this area. Here most of the customers are residents of defence or
other well establish societies who can afford these documents even they are ready to pay for the
executive fees. I think this problem may exists in remote areas.

Interviewer: Do you think this situation is a dilemma in which profits are benefitting the
government but on the other hand those who cannot afford for these services are affecting by this
policy.

Interviewee: Every policy has some positive and negative outcomes. This policy is also having
these situations. So, we can say it ethical dilemma.

Interviewer: What would you suggest for meeting this dilemma?

Interviewee: I think This dilemma will still exist in very situation, but it can be reduced to
minimum level by exempting the residents of remote areas from charging fee.

Interviewer: Thank you so much for your time sir.