Tariq Malik resigns as Nadra chief amid ‘charged political environment’

Tariq Mailk, the National Database and Registration Authority (Nadra) chairman, resigned from his post on Tuesday citing a “charged political environment” as the reason.

In a three-page resignation sent to the prime minister, Malik highlighted his performance and initiatives that started during his stint as the Nadra chief.

He also suggested the federal government not to appoint serving or retired bureaucrat as Nadra's head.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif accepted the resignation of Malik and appreciated his contributions to the country.

He was appointed as Nadra chief in June 2021 for a period of three years by the then Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI)-led government.

Before his appointment as Nadra chief, he was working as Chief Technical Adviser, United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) where he was advising on ‘Digital Governance’ to 130+ member states across five regions spread worldwide.

Prior to joining the UNDP, he served the World Bank as a Senior Technical Consultant. He was a member of the core team who helped to initiate the worldwide ‘ID for Development’ (#ID4D) Programme as well as authored the framework of international standards for digital identity.

Malik was among the 10 core members of the Technical Experts Group (TEG) of the World Bank who supported client countries with ID planning and implementation.

His name was included in the World’s 100 Most Influential People in ‘Digital Government’ by a European think tank known as Apolitical.

He was also named among the Top 100 Digital Influencers in the ‘Digital Community’ by One World Identity (OWI) — a New York-based independent identity research and strategy think tank focused on cyber security, digital commerce and risk management.

Before joining the World Bank, Malik helped various governments to optimise the use of Big Data and advanced data analytics from the platform of Teradata Inc USA.

Malik is the son of eminent scholar and educationist Prof Fateh Muhammad Malik. He has also served as Nadra chairman previously.