Violation of rules: Nisar orders action against 2,000 dubious passports

Scraps blue passports issued to non-entitled persons.

ISLAMABAD:

Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan on Saturday directed Directorate General of Immigration and Passports to immediately cancel all those 2002 passports issued in violation of rules and regulations during last few years.

The directorate had brought into the notice of interior minister that a number of official passports had been issued to non-titled persons in the past in violation of rules and regulation. As per the policy, the official passports are only issued by government officers and members of parliament.

The Director General Immigration and Passports Sultan Sikander Raja briefed the minister about the performance and initiatives launched by his directorate. The minister stated that the blue passports will be issued to entitled persons only, and there would be no relaxation of rules in this regard.



DG Immigration and Passports further mentioned that a computerised check has been placed on the process of issuing blue passports to curb its misuse in future. He also briefed the minister that facilitation/information desks had been established at the regional offices to register complaints of the general public and to facilitate them.

National Database and Registration Authority (Nadra) Chairman Tariq Malik presented his report on his visit to Awaran District, Balochistan of the relief work being conducted by the department in the earthquake affected region on the directives of federal minister for interior. He stated that Nadra mobile vehicles had started operating to re-issue CNICs to those who have lost their identity documents. He also informed about the door-to-door damage assessment being conducted by the authority.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 6^th, 2013.