ISLAMABAD, Oct 20 (APP):Minister of State for Interior Senator Talal Chaudhry told the Senate on Tuesday that NADRA blocks identity cards across the country when holders are found ineligible or have obtained them through forged documents, with such cases reviewed by regional-level boards. He said 138,166 CNICs had been blocked in Balochistan, including 8,875 in the Makran and Rakhshan divisions.
Replying to a calling attention notice by Senator Jan Muhammad, he said the two divisions comprised eight districts with a population of about 2.9 million.
The minister said the regional-level board examined objections in each case and a blocked CNIC could be restored if the objections were resolved. Cases not settled by the board could be referred to a higher-level committee at NADRA headquarters.
He said some foreign nationals had obtained Pakistani CNICs using false documents, while others had been wrongly added to the family trees of Pakistani citizens. He stressed that cases were examined on merit, without targeting any particular nationality, tribe or region.
Talal said the 8,875 blocked cards in Makran and Rakhshan accounted for about seven per cent of the total in Balochistan. He invited the senator to refer any specific cases for review.
Referring to concerns raised by Oman, he said misuse of identity documents could affect Pakistan’s credibility and relations with other countries. He added that the interior minister had visited Oman three times after concerns were raised there about human and drug trafficking.
Source: APP (Associated Press of Pakistan)
