Workers, students suffer due to delay in passport issuance

April 05, 2013 - Updated 1539 PKT 

KARACHI: National Trade Union Federation Deputy General Secretary Nasir Mansoor has expressed serious concern on non-issuance of new and renewed passports to the citizens for last three months, saying it is also affecting Pakistanis working aboard.

 

He said the passports of 1 million people including 0.7 million workers have not been issued due to matter of contract employment system in the relevant department. He said the government is not taking steps to ensure smooth functioning of issuance of new and renewed passports to the citizens. He said majority of the people whose passports are blocked are Pakistani working aboard. He said these people earn huge foreign exchange for the country, but in return the government is blind to their suffering.

 

He said similarly a large number of students could not join their foreign educational institutions if their passports not given to them timely. He said the vested interests in bureaucracy with this dirty tactics are forcing citizens to pay extra charges for getting urgent passports. He said the baffled people with no other option left are paying extra charges to get urgent passports.

 

Mansoor requested the Chief Justice of Pakistan Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry and the interim government to take notice of the situation and order issuance of the pending passports at the earliest.