This change is all the more necessary when the government is planning to issue e-passports
ISLAMABAD: I applied for a new passport recently. The validity of this passport is supposed to be 10 years. I was utterly surprised to learn that if an employee of a government or autonomous organisation leaves the organisation, he or she must apply for a new passport and go through the same mill again. A fee of Rs5,400 will also have to be paid again. This is extremely unreasonable.
I request the interior minister to make this process reasonable and simple. After one leaves a government or autonomous organisation, he or she should be required only to inform the relevant passport office. They should be able to record the necessary change without cancelling the passport. Obviously, this suggestion does not apply to those who hold official passports. This change is all the more necessary when the government is planning to issue e-passports. Any citizen-friendly state would take this step without thinking too much about it.
Shakil Chaudhary
Published in The Express Tribune, October 27th, 2016.
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