August 26, 2008	Tuesday	Sha'aban 23, 1429

SAHIWAL, Aug 25: People in Okara are facing problems in getting passport from the newly-established passport office in Sahiwal because of illegible and misprinted B-forms issued by the National and Database Registration Authority (Nadra) office in Okara, Dawn has learnt.

The computerised B-form is a prerequisite for getting the passport. The form is used to verify the birth date of applicants who are under 16 or illiterate.

The passport office in Sahiwal issues the traveling document to the residents of Okara, Pakpattan and Sahiwal districts. The documents of the applicants from Okara are rejected because all Nadra offices in Okara issue illegible forms. Passport officials ask the people from Okara to produce readable B-form.

Every day, the B-forms of 20 to 30 applicants are rejected because of dim printouts, said a passport official.

Dawn met eight children of the City Model School, Deepalpur, who had traveled to the passport office with the required documents but to their dismay, they were told to bring new B-forms from Nadra.

“This is the worst negligence by Nadra,” said enraged Waseem Qadeer, principal of the City Model School, Deepalpur.

“I traveled 50 kilometres along with the children in the scorching summer to get the passports issued.

Now, I will have to bear the traveling expenses besides wasting time to come to the office again for the fault of Nadra.”

“Nadra can save itself from embarrassment just by changing a toner or installing a new printing cartridge in the printer,” said the system engineer at the passport office, who introduced himself Cheema.

OKARA: Owing to increasing number of rejections of documents issued by the Nadra office in Okara, the public demanded action against the officials for creating problems for the people.

The public demanded the management install new printers so that people could get at least readable documents.