Getting passport becomes ordeal in Pakistan

Islamabad : Pakistan has a history of passport issuance backlogs, with the problem recurring over the years. In the past, the government has taken a number of measures to address the issue.

For the general public aspiring to get their passport made by the Directorate-General of Immigration and Passports (DGI&P) are going through an agonizing situation as they are waiting for months and months with no hope of getting their request for issuance of passport materializing in near future.

But, the authorities, responsible for providing basic of travelling documents to the people, avoid to response about the cause of backlog as they have miserably failed to execute their responsibility to break the log jam. Though, the Passport crisis initiated during the previous regime but it developed into a national crisis during the caretaker government because of unprofessional managerial attitude of the concerned authorities. The caretaker administration should take action against the people involved in enhancing the crisis as the government is in a fix.

There are hundreds and thousands of passport applicants all over the country, waiting since long time and yet there is no positive response from the DGI&P in sight. The reason cited by the sources in the DGI&P is that there is a very heavy backlog they need to deal with and the available resources are insufficient to cater to their requirements.

Sometimes the prolonged delays are caused because of non-availability of trivial items like lamination paper required for the passports but it the people believe that the crisis generated and developed due to inability the administration. In the past the same DGI&P had been performing par excellence when the legendary police officer, Zulfiqar Cheema in 2013-14.

Zulfiqar Cheema, acknowledged professional and live-wire made the department sit on its hunches, wipe off the log jam and come up to day-to-day dealing level in the department and cleared the backlog of over 800,000 passports within the short time of 30 days. On one hand it was a big relief for the people as they were not required to travel all the way to Islamabad and sometimes spend days and on in the federal capital waiting for their passports to be ready for deliver while on the other hand it eased out a considerable amount of burden of work from the Islamabad Office at the same time.

However, now the department seems to have become ‘paralyzed’, if one may use a civilized word, and hundreds and thousands of passport applicants, reportedly, are waiting impatiently to get their requests materialized and yet there are no signs of relief any sooner in future.

Even more frustrating for the media persons is the situation where there is no official available to answer queries as to why this situation has emerged and what could be the reasons behind this. However, now the situation is absolutely contrary to what it was in the past as there is nobody available in the DGI&P or the Ministry of Interior to respond to the queries raised by the media persons.

The media department perform s as there is no Public & Media Relations Officer in the DGI&P as it used to be in the past but act as “the counter media officers”, earning bad name for the department by avoiding and misgauging the media persons.

Considering that the Passport department is kind of a stronghold strictly inaccessible for the media persons, it always leads to leave a murky area and unanswered questions causing confusion if one is reporting anything concerning the Passport office or its affiliated departments. But the nation witnessed a miracle, when Zulfiqar Cheema took over of Passport and Immigration as Director General, happening within three months, the entire backlog was cleared and the system was streamlined.

Mr. Zulfiqar Cheema, executed as dynamic and proficient police officer during his service, when asked, how he cleared a huge backlog within one-month time, responded, “Every dysfunctional institution can be set right, if its head is honest and effective administrator and is blessed with strong will and unwavering determination. If political leadership gets involved in corruption and nepotism, then not only the institutions, but the whole country is doomed. In the past few decades, winds of destruction and downfall led to the collapse of many national institutions. After PIA, Railways, and Steel Mill the shadow of destruction reached sensitive institution of immigration and passport. In 2012-13, the citizens were deprived of their basic right, such as the travelling document -passport. What bigger failure for a state if it is unable to provide basic travel documents to its citizens! In the beginning of April 2013, not one or two thousand, but eight hundred thousand Pakistanis had been running from pillar to post to get their passports, though they had applied as early as six to eight months back. As a result students were deprived of foreign education, patients of medical treatment, and thousands of job-seekers of their opportunity to work abroad. Overseas Pakistanis, who remit billions in foreign exchange, were stranded abroad with expired passports. Pakistan’s image was being badly tarnished.”

Zulfiqar Cheema, narrating his experience, said, “The incredible improvement in the Passport department be looked as a case study and try to change other institutions the same manner. The beaming pilgrims got their passports way before time. Hundreds of thousands of urgent fee and normal fee passports were printed in the months of May and June. When the people started receiving their passports they raised their hands in prayer of thanks. I never showed any flexibility regarding rule of law. During the caretaker government, many ministers of the federal cabinet including the Interior minister himself, tried to get Blue Passports (official) for their children, family and friends but I did not allow any transgression against the law and rules. I got more than two thousand blue passports (issued to non-deserving persons) cancelled.

These earnest efforts to ensure that merit and fairness prevails in every field restored public’s faith and trust in the institution. After a few days, I saw on the TV screen that I was appointed as head of another important institution – the National Highways and Motorways Police. In the same evening after clearing the work, when I came out of my office, I was asked by the heartbroken staff of the immigration and passport department waiting outside; “sir are you leaving this organization?” “Please stay for the sake of this department for some more time,” but I tried to console them, “Look, individuals come and go. The entire nation is proud of you. The way you handled the grave crisis, is a great lesson for all institutions.