Despite all of the government's investment in technology, the prevalence of fake identity documents is still an everyday issue that leads to hard-working and deserving people losing out to unscrupulous fraudsters. One recent report on the issue noted that at least 100 medical students in Karachi had used forged documents to gain admission to medical colleges in the city on quotas for people with Karachi domiciles. These students had all passed their matric and intermediate exams from Punjab, Islamabad or other districts of Sindh. While technically possible for people who may have moved shortly before the student applied for admission, it is uncommon, suggesting most of the students had committed fraud to gain admission and deprived actual residents of the seven districts that qualify for Karachi's quota.
However, the fact that they were only caught because someone did a random search of CNIC data while compiling merit lists is also concerning. The government must ensure that every student's CNIC is cross-checked as part of the admissions process to ensure they are caught and penalised as soon as possible rather than after they may have already ruined the future prospects of deserving students. But the fact that the use of fraudulent documents remains prevalent reflects failures on the part of the government and NADRA, and businesses and institutions that should be using official documents.
The government could easily legislate to require almost every employer or educational institute to verify documentation through NADRA through a mixture of carrot and stick measures, namely streamlining the process and making sure it is extremely easy to do, while also imposing huge fines and other penalties not only for people who use fake documents, but for government bodies and large employers that accept them without verification.
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