The caretaker government has officially approved the appointment of Lieutenant General Muhammad Munir Afsar as the Chairman of the National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA).
Prime Minister Anwaarul Haq presided over a meeting of the interim federal cabinet in Islamabad on Monday, during which this approval was granted. The interior ministry had presented three candidates for the position.
Officials informed the cabinet that a selection committee had shortlisted the top three candidates for this important role. Following thorough deliberation, the cabinet endorsed the appointment of Lt-Gen Afsar as the new Chairman of NADRA.
He will succeed Asad Rehman Gilani as the head of the database authority. Gilani took on the role in June when the former Chairman, Tariq Malik, resigned.
Lieutenant General Munir afsar’s Profile
Lieutenant General Muhammad Munir Afsar has an impressive background, having received the Hilal-i-Imtiaz (military) award and possessing extensive experience in technical development and information technology systems in United Nations missions.
He holds an MPhil in public policy and national security management and has conducted research on public policy responses in the Geographic Information Systems (GIS) Department during the 2010 floods. Lt-Gen Afsar also earned an MS in GIS and Remote Sensing and received an honor for his paper on rapid geospatial data generation through photometry.
He pursued an MS in National Resource Strategy (C&IT Industry and Supply Chain Management) at the National Defense University in Washington DC, where he earned the distinction of being a “distinguished graduate.” Currently, he is a Ph.D. candidate in remote sensing at the National University of Sciences and Technology in Islamabad, focusing his research on the detection of plant diseases through remote sensing and artificial intelligence.
Lt-Gen Afsar has authored several research publications in the field of IT and GIS and has served in UN missions as a military GIS officer.
He also played a crucial role in developing GIS applications for flood recovery during the 2010 floods and served as the Director General of IT at the Command, Control, Communication, Computer and Intelligence (C4I) Directorate.
Following his promotion to the rank of lieutenant general, Afsar held positions as the inspector general of communication and IT, as well as the commander of the Pakistan Army Cyber Command.
Additionally, during the meeting, the cabinet granted its approval to the decisions made during the Economic Coordination Committee meetings on September 6.
