Family Registration Certificates: Ministry recommended to conduct comprehensive review
A senior official of the National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA) informed the Senate Standing Committee on Interior, which met with Senator Faisal Saleem Rehman in the chair in 2023, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) had dispatched 12,096 Pakistani passports, recovered from Afghan nationals, to the Pakistan Embassy. They [aliens] used a Pakistani passport as a vehicle for going to KSA, and there they renounced Pakistani citizenship, he said.
State Minister for Interior Talal Chauddhry said KSA and members of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) have raised concerns over the misuse of Pakistani passports.
Chairman of the committee Rehman said that a review of FRCs would curb the false addition of an alien or any person to the FRCs and issuance of fake passports.
Director General (DG) Immigration and Passport (I&P), Mustafa Jamal Kazi told the committee that out of 12,096, the data of 4,500 passports is not available in the database of I&P. All the passports have been cancelled and action has been taken against the officials of NADRA and an I&P director found responsible for issuance of passport to aliens.
He further said these aliens are not in Pakistan, and as per reports, KSA had deported them to Afghanistan. 'Action has been taken against 35 assistant directors of I&P Directorate in connection issuance of passports to aliens,' he said, adding that the majority of these passports had been issued from Gujrat, Gujranwala and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
The committee also raised serious concerns over the security situation in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and expressed annoyance over the absence of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa's chief secretary and Inspector General of Police (IGP), who were invited to brief the committee on provincial security.
Special Secretary Home Khyber Pakhtunkhwa informed the meeting that the chief secretary were attending a cabinet meeting and was therefore, unable to participate in the session.
Following the explanation, Chairman Faisal Saleem decided to postpone the agenda item, stating, 'We will defer this discussion to the next meeting.'
A senior official of the Ministry of Interior, while briefing the committee on laws/rules regarding the ban on tinted glasses in vehicles and the amount collected as a fine, said that there is no policy for granting permission for tinted glasses and currently there is a complete ban on use of tinted glasses in vehicles.
He said that the Interior Ministry had banned use of tinted glasses in 2013 and decided to formulate a new policy in this regard.
When the chairman asked if the ministry had formulated a policy with respect to the use of tinted glasses, the official replied in the negative.
The committee recommended the Interior Ministry to formulate a policy in this regard and present it before the committee.
The committee reviewed the Public Sector Development Programme (PSDP) of Rs84823.096 million of the Ministry of Interior and its attached department for the financial year 2025-26.
Senators Irfanul Haque Siddiqui, Naseema Ehsan, Saifullah Abro, Samina Mumtaz Zehri, Umer Farooq, Palwasha Khan, Jam Saifullah Khan, and Minister of State for Interior and Narcotics Control Talal Chaudhry, and senior officials attended the meeting.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2025
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