ISLAMABAD: Government employees from several departments have demanded further extension in the deadline of rectifying their passports by revealing their professions as per the policy of the present government.
Ministry of Interior through a notification asked government servants to declare their professions by July 20-23, a deadline which was then extended to September 27.
However, a number of government servants were abroad attending special courses, fellowships, training programs and were unable to submit their papers.
Amna Munnawar, a government employee said, “I was out of the country for six months and heard of this new policy of specifying professions in passports when I came back, a week ago. I urgently rushed to the passport office to get my passport corrected but was unable to do so since the deadline had elapsed.”
She said, “I always get a No Objection Certificate (NCO) from my office for traveling abroad since I don’t have an official passport. I was not even aware earlier that concealing my profession is a punishable offense.”
She added that authorities must educate government employees about the importance of mentioning their exact profession on passports as earlier such policies were not followed with such rigor.
Another employee, Kamran Ali said, “I went to the passport office at Murree Road, Rawalpindi which for the renewal of my passport along with specifying my profession. They took Rs. 11, 000 from me including Rs. 3,000 for renewal, Rs. 5,000 for stating profession and Rs 3,000 as service charges for visiting this executive branch which is not easy to afford”.
Taimoor Shah, another government employee complained that he visited the passport office and inquired from the first window about the professional category mentioned in my existing passport which they said is not an official one.
“When I submitted the processing fee of Rs5,000 then the official on another window told me that my category was already the official one. And you don’t need to change that. Then I tried to reimburse that amount for which they didn’t cooperate. My time and money were both wasted”, he said.
Muniba Ismail, another employee said, “I went to the passport office to get my passport corrected and renewed on September 27 which was the deadline but the official there said that I could not do so until another extension is announced.
She added “I have to go to my family in the United Arab Emirates for three months every year so going through this process is a bit of a hassle for me.”
Saeeda Irum, an employee at a semi-government corporation, said, “I paid Rs5000 to the passport office and they just attached a receipt of challan form. They didn’t issue a new passport and took Rs5000 for only attaching a receipt”.
The concerned official in Directorate General of Immigration and Passports said that “Hundreds of employees are visiting the passport office for correction of their passports and we have written a letter to the Interior Ministry for further extension in the date for government employees to rectify their passports”.