MARANG, The National Registration Department (NRD) has approved a total of 23,528 personal identification applications through the Menyemai Kasih Rakyat (MEKAR) programme, from January to July this year, according to its director-general Badrul Hisham Alias. He said that applications involving birth certificates and identity cards were received through the implementation of 1,338 series of MEKAR, held nationwide. He said that the highest organisation of MEKAR involved Putrajaya with 145 programmes; Sarawak (122); Sabah (105); Selangor (101); Negeri Sembilan (98) and Penang (96). 'In Kedah, we hosted 96 programmes; Perak (91); Terengganu (86); Melaka (86); Pahang (84); Kelantan (83); Johor (80); Perlis (31); Kuala Lumpur (29) and Labuan with five programmes. 'For this year, we are aiming to hold 1,500 programmes. Alhamdulillah, as of July 31, we have organised more than 1,300 programmes, and the rest will be completed before the end of this year," he said, at the MADANI get-together with the NRD DG, in Ka mpung Padang Tanjung, Bukit Payong, here, today. Badrul Hisham added that a total of 173,058 applications for the MyKid child identity card were received within a span of 15 days, from July 29 to Aug 12. However, he said that, from 2019 to the present, 52,695 MyKid cards remain unclaimed by parents. "The highest number of MyKid applications came from Selangor, with 24,152 applications, followed by Johor (18,892) and Sarawak (15,400). 'I advise parents not to rush to apply because the MyKid supply is adequate,' he said. Meanwhile, in today's event, various activities were held, including a gotong-royong to clean the cemetery and mosque areas, and the distribution of food baskets to the underprivileged. Source: BERNAMA News Agency