The National Database and Registration Authority’s (NADRA) new chairman, Lt Gen Munir Afsar, informed a Senate panel that certain NADRA employees and external influences contributed to distributing counterfeit CNICs to non-citizens. He explained that unauthorized residents often merge with Pakistani family records through bribes.
In a meeting led by Senator Mohsin Aziz, the NADRA head highlighted that 84 officials had been suspended for such illicit activities. Nonetheless, many escape punitive action due to the lack of specific data privacy laws. The typical tactics non-nationals use to obtain fake IDs include using credentials of legitimate Pakistani families, exploiting older ID systems, or leveraging IDs of deceased individuals or women who received IDs without photos before 2012.
Afsar emphasized NADRA’s commitment to refining its verification process to issue CNICs to legitimate citizens solely.
DG Passport and Immigration, Mustafa Jamal Kazi, addressed the Mehsud tribesmen facing delays in obtaining passports in Karachi. He clarified that the delay arises as members of the tribe seek passports in Karachi, contrary to the regulation which mandates acquiring first passports in one’s native district.
