ISLAMABAD: The Directorate General of Immigration and Passports (DGI&P) currently has a backlog of 220,000 passport applications which will be resolved in the next two to three weeks, Director General (DG) DGI&P Mustafa Qazi told a parliamentary body on Monday.
Briefing the National Assembly Standing Committee on Interior which met with MNA Raja Khurram Shehzad Nawaz in the chair regarding passport backlog, Qazi said that the backlog in the fastback has completely been cleared, however, in the urgent category, there is a backlog of 170,000 passports, which are going to be cleared in the next two to three weeks.
He told the committee that the DGI&P earlier was receiving 75,000 passports applications per day for we had a capacity of printing only 22,000 per day. Now the number of printers has risen to 25, due to which, the processing speed has been increased, he said.
The DG said that two new machines for the provision of e-passports would arrive in the directorate soon. The DGI&P was using 20-year-old machines, he said, adding that the department has earned last year Rs50 billion and this year Rs20 billion, they are still facing a very critical fund shortage.
MNA Sehar Kamran said that people even did not get their passport after 10 months of applying. The delay in the issuance of passports is badly affecting the future of students, she said, adding that you are sharing inaccurate figures of backlog.
She said that what action you have taken regarding the backlog to find out the reason behind the backlog.
MNA Abdul Qadir Patel said that passport crises increase the problems of many people. He asked the DGI&P to brief the committee about the cost of the machine to be purchased.
Qazi said that after Covid-19 the demand for passports has increased. We have floated tender at international level for the purchase of printers, he said, adding that printers are available in Germany is the most modern. It prints 4,000 passports in one hour, he said.
MNA ZartajGul said that she is the parliamentary leader and she has been deprived of her passport. Who instructed you to put our name on the exit control list (ECL), she asked. She further asked that so far the name of how many dacoits have been put on the ECL. Pakistan is a nuclear power but did not have a paper to print passport, she said.
In response, Qazi clarified that he had personally processed the passport of MNA Hamid Raza. MNA Nabeel Gabol also expressed disappointment that even members of parliament were facing difficulties in obtaining passports. Secretary Ministry of Interior we have made a proposal for the establishment of passport authority. We have given a briefing to the prime minister and the federal cabinet but the Ministry of Finance has rejected the concept, he said.
The committee directed DGI&P to issue blue and green passports to all committee members till the next meeting.
The committee also expressed concern over the increasing number of street crimes in Islamabad.
MNA Patel asked the Inspector General of Police (IGP) Islamabad, Ali Nasir Rizvi, about the conviction rate of the city’s police force.
The IGP responded that the police’s role is limited to arresting suspects and presenting them to the courts, which are responsible for convictions. Patel argued that if investigations were stronger, convictions would be easier to secure.
MNA ZartajGul expressed frustration over the deteriorating law and order situation in Islamabad, saying that the city’s police had lost its previous standing.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2024
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