1m IDs blocked between 2013 & 18, Senate told

Minister says Pakistan taking measures to curb drugs

ISLAMABAD:

The Senate was informed on Thursday that the interior ministry had blocked one million identity cards between 2013 and 2018, and the system was being made foolproof.

During the question hour, the upper house was told that Afghans had been living in Pakistan for 30 years and in these 30 years, there had been no such policy to make identity cards.

To a question pertaining to the arrival of more than 700,000 Afghans in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa from other places, Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Murtaza Javed Abbasi said that Pakistan had no such policy.

“If anyone has any evidence since 1978, let us know and we will figure it out,” he said.

“A mechanism will be created in collaboration with the law enforcement agencies to create ID cards,” he added.

The state minister said that after 2002, the Anti-Narcotics Force (ANF) did a lot of work against drugs, resulting in Pakistan's efforts being appreciated all over the world.

Noting that Pakistan was taking all kinds of measures to curb drugs, he said that they were willing to create a mechanism with members.

“Operations are being carried out despite the small number of forces,” he added.