LAHORE, Aug 9: Issuance of new Machine Readable Passport (MRP) may be delayed for few months, as the Lahore Passport Office has failed to provide new building to the National Database and Registration Authority for the purpose.
Nadra had to facilitate the passport office officials in the issuance of MRP from Sept 15 after installing machinery at the new building at Garden Town. But the passport officials, who were supposed to hand over the building to the authority by May 22, has yet to do so.
Sources said the officials deliberately delayed the plan, as they feared that Nadra might take control of issuing MRP. Lahore Passport Office Deputy-Director Shamshad Ahmad Khan was not available for comments.
However, a Nadra spokesman said the authority's main objective was to install machinery and provide training to the passport officials across the country for the project. He claimed that there was no delay on part of the authority, as it was all set to launch the project by Sept 15.
"However, it requires a new passport building in Lahore to start the project," he said. He said the MRP was being designed on unique physical and technical features and could not be forged or tampered with.
Supported by an integrated Automated Border Control System (ABCS), he said, the MRP would help solve problems being faced by the immigration authorities. He added that a database online verification of all the travel documents was also being made possible.
The MRP would provide a combination of automated assessment of data about travel documents and its bearer. Elimination of human intervention through effective use of sophisticated computer hardware and software would introduce a high degree of reliability in monitoring and tracking applications, he added.
He said 18 entry and exit points would be linked with the MRP. The process would ensure success and preserve 'authority' of documents. The authority was of the view that after the issuance of MRP the international community would have no objection to the Pakistani passport.
Besides helping control human trafficking, the authenticity of MRP would help Pakistanis get job opportunities abroad. Hundreds of Pakistanis reach developed countries annually on forged documents, as there is no computerized checking.
It is pertinent to mention that Malaysia, which reportedly avoided recruiting Pakistani workers owing to unreliability of their travel documents, may provide jobs to over 200,000 Pakistanis possessing MRP and CNIC. As many as 20 countries in the world are issuing MRP. In Asia, Malaysia and Myanmar have shifted from traditional passports to MRP.
