Bogus domiciles

All domicile certificates, PRCs issued over past three years will be scrutinised; those found bogus will be cancelled

Ordinary citizens and their representatives in legislatures have long been drawing the attention of the authorities to the issue of bogus domicile and permanent residence certificates of Sindh being fraudulently obtained by people of other provinces, and on the basis of such fake documents they are stealing jobs of the permanent residents of the province. Those in possession of such fake papers also bag Sindh’s quota in federal jobs, and get admission to colleges and universities on seats meant for those domiciled in the province depriving the deserving of their rights. The issue of fake domiciles and PRCs has both inter-provincial and intra-provincial dimensions, as those domiciled in one district too acquire the domicile of other districts by unfair means and gain benefits which are for the residents of other districts.

The Sindh government has decided to stop the issuance of counterfeit domiciles and PRCs. The CM has ordered effective actions in the context. Now all domicile certificates and PRCs issued over the past three years will be scrutinised, and those found bogus will be cancelled. Earlier too, the government had constituted a committee to conduct inquiries into the misuse of domicile certificates and PRCs. Investigations carried out in five districts made startling revelations like these documents had been issued in an off-hand manner without application of mind by the relevant officials; a private company was assigned the job of issuance of these papers and this arrangement left loopholes that unscrupulous elements took advantage of; many affidavits submitted with applications were not found in order; and papers required for proof of residence were not verified and attested. Deputy commissioners gave the authority in this regard to assistant DCs and assistant commissioners. Of the 423 cases examined, 154 had been found dubious. The whole exercise would be meaningless if fraudsters have gone unpunished.

Also, the rural-urban job and seat quotas in educational institutions are being misused. This seems to have gone unnoticed by the authorities.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 10^th, 2021.

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