The government has, so far, blocked 344,597 Computerised National Identity Cards (CNICs) of suspected persons from all four provinces, Azad Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan, besides cancelling 30,400 fake passports. Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan revealed this to National Assembly on Monday during the question-hour.
He also informed the House that National Database and Registration Authority (Nadra) issued 50,706,076 CNICs from January 2013 to March 2017 and blocked 42,484 CNICs out of them for being faked and issued illegally. The government blocked 106,020 CNICs in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 61,304 in Punjab, 85,923 in Sindh, 9,229 in Islamabad, 160 in Gilgit-Baltistan, 12,031 in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata), 60,408 in Balochistan, 2,570 in Azad Kashmir and 6,952 people living abroad, the minister added.
He said the CNICs have been blocked mainly of suspects/confirmed aliens, adding under verification category, the identity card of a person is unblocked if he/she proves to be a Pakistani national through documents. "Nationality of Pakistan was sold to foreigners and aliens... but now I won't allow any non-Pakistani to get identity and passport of Pakistan," he vowed.
The minister said that some 3.5 million Afghan refugees have been living in Pakistan and some of them managed to get fake CNICs and passports of Pakistan too, but they all are being cancelled now. He said that a parliamentary committee has also been constituted to look into issue of the blocked CNICs and address grievances of genuine complainants. He said that not a single person has taken his ministry to the court for blocking his/her CNIC because the action is taken on merit and based on reports of intelligence agencies. He said that verification process should not be linked with any community, language or group.
To another question, Parliamentary Secretary for Planning and Development Ibadullah informed the House that China has agreed to form a mechanism on the development of hydro projects along the North Indus River including the Diamer-Bhasha hydro project. He said both sides have agreed that preliminary work should be done as soon as possible on the development of hydro projects.
The parliamentary secretary said that Keti Bunder Sea Port Development Project and Rail-Based Mass Transit Systems in provincial headquarters have been included in the CPEC portfolio. He said these systems include Lahore Orange Line Metro Mass Transit Project, Karachi Circular Railway, Greater Peshawar Region Mass Transit System and Quetta Mass Transit System. Parliamentary Secretary for Finance Rana Muhammad Afzal Khan informed the House that an ad hoc relief will be given to the government employees and pensioners in the upcoming budget in proportion with the inflation.
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