With the introduction of Machine Readable Passport facility for the overseas Pakistanis, tussle has started between the Passport and Immigration employees and the staff at the embassies who were earlier required to issue the manual passport.
According to information gathered, the newly posted employees required to issue the machine readable passports are facing hell of hardships and obstacles in performing their duties due to pressure from the Embassies staff who were reportedly minting huge money for issuance of manual passports.
The embassies employees are reportedly compelling the newly posted staff of emigration and passport directorate to handle the passports according to their dictates.
In a joint representation the employees of the machine readable passport section at the embassies have appealed to the Prime Minister Mian Mohammad Nawaz Sharif, Federal Interior Minister Chaudary Nisar Ali Khan and high ups of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to take notice of the situation and urgent and effective steps be taken to address the problems of the newly posted employees. They said due to the negative and indifferent attitude of the embassies officials they are facing lot of obstacles, hardships and mental torture in performing their duties to the satisfaction of the overseas Pakistanis.
They pointed out that they are bound to follow the directives of their directorate but the embassies officials are forcing them to obey them. Thus undue tension and atmosphere is being created.
They said as the practice of issuing manual passports has been done away with, the officials of the embassies feel badly hurt and are trying to compel the employees to follow their instructions in issuing the passports .
According to details, the employees have time and again drew the attention of their relevant bosses but in vain and no action has been taken so far in this regard. They said in such a scenario, they are feeling helpless because they are duty bound to work at the embassies under the command of the Ambassador/High Commissioner.
It is pertinent to mention here that due to the long duration of their postings the embassies officials are functioning at their will and creating problems for the immigrants as well for the staff posted for the issuance of passports.
The Immigration and Passport employees have requested the Interior Ministry and the foreign ministry to help them from the indifferent attitude being meted out to them. They stressed that they should be allowed to perform their duties as per Pakistani laws and the embassy staff be ordered strictly not to indulge in their working.
