The government employees from different departments are still waiting for another extension by the authorities in the deadline for rectifying their passports by revealing their professions as per the policy of the present government.
The Ministry of Interior through a notification asked the government servants to declare their professions and given the deadlines of July 20, 23 and then September 27, giving two extensions. However, many of the government servants who were abroad to avail some scholarships, fellowships or training programmes as well as on family visits could not avail that opportunity to correct their passports and thus demanding another extension in the date.
Some others were unable to gather proper knowledge of the procedure of rectifying their passports. Amna Munnawar, a government employee said, "I was out of country for six months and heard of this government policy of rectifying the professions in the passports when I came back, a week ago. I urgently rushed to the passport office to get my passport corrected by revealing my profession but the officials denied the facility by saying that the deadline is ended now and you have to wait".
She said, "Although my passport was not the official one but I always got No Objection Certificate (NOC) from my office for traveling abroad. I was even not aware earlier that concealing my profession is a punishable offense".
She added that the authorities must educate the government employees about the importance of mentioning exact profession on their passports as earlier such policy was not pursued by any government with such commitment. Another employee, Kamran Ali said, "I went to the Passport Office at Murree Road, Rawalpindi which was nearest to my residence for renewal of my passport along with changing its professional category. They took Rs 11, 000 from me including Rs 3,000 for renewal, Rs 5,000 for revealing profession and Rs 3,000 as service charges for visiting this executive branch which is not easy to afford".
Taimoor Shah, another government employee complained that he visited the passport office and inquired from the first window about the professional category mentioned in my existing passport which they said is not official one. "When I submitted the processing fee of Rs 5,000 then the official on another window told me that your category was already the official one. And you don't need to change that. Then I tried to reimburse that amount for which they didn't cooperate. My time and money both wasted", he said.
Muniba Ismail, another employee told that I went to the passport office to get my passport corrected and renewed on September 27 which was the deadline but the official there said "you cannot even renew your passport till another extension is announced".
She said "I have to visit my husband and in laws in United Arab Emirates for three months and I am unable to even renew my passport which is unnerving for me". While Saeeda Irum who is working at a semi-government corporation, said, "I paid Rs 5000 to the passport office and they just attached a receipt of challan form. They didn't issue a new passport and took Rs 5000 for only attaching a receipt".
While one of my colleagues has changed his passport' category from ordinary to official without paying even a single penny, she said while emphasizing the need of proper awareness regarding this matter.
When contacted the Directorate General of Immigration and Passports, the concerned official informed that "Hundreds of employees are visiting the passport office for correction of their passports and we have written a letter to Ministry of Interior for further extension in the date for government employees to rectify their passports".
Copyright Associated Press of Pakistan, 2019
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