The digital waiting list exceedes 50,000
Staff shortage at Shekhan civil affairs directorate causes long delays
SHEKHAN — A shortage of staff at the Civil Affairs Directorate in Shekhan has led to significant delays for residents awaiting services.
Chiayi Taimur Abdal, an Iraqi MP, spoke to 964media about the issue, saying, “We formally requested the Iraqi Ministry of Interior two days ago to increase staff at the Shekhan Civil Affairs Directorate and to reopen the Zelikan sub-district office to help reduce the current backlog.”
The directorate in Shekhan currently runs morning shifts for Zelikan residents and evening shifts for the central Shekhan area and its surroundings, leading to slow service.
Since March last year, the directorate has been operational, and Zelikan has a ready building that only needs a continuous electricity supply. There is a push for both the Shekhan and Zelikan offices to offer morning and evening shifts to speed up processing times for residents.
Sardar Sheikh Yahya, the qaymaqam of Shekhan, told 964media, “We, along with the citizens, are requesting expedited processing of national IDs. However, the current backlog is causing significant delays.”
The directorate’s electronic waiting list has grown to over 50,000 people, while around 125 national ID transactions are processed daily, according to 964media.
A citizen, who wished to remain anonymous, told 964media, “My identification is registered in Shekhan. I’ve been married for some time and applied for a national ID, but my application number is 1381, and so far, only 260 transactions have been processed. I might have to wait a year.”
Shekhan, established as a district in 1924, has a population of 220,000, which includes 60,000 internally displaced persons.
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