ISLAMABAD: The government is considering to set up one-window counters at major airports in the country to readdress complaints of overseas Pakistanis.

The Overseas Pakistanis Foundation (OPF) is likely to approve the proposal of establishing the counters at a meeting of its board of directors on Thursday (today).

The meeting will be presided over by federal Minister for Overseas Pakistanis and Human Resource Development, Pir Sadaruddin Shah Rashdi, and attended by members of the board, including the secretaries of defence, finance and foreign affairs, the governor of the State Bank of Pakistan and the managing director of the OPF.

“The proposal to establish one-window counters at all major airports of the country is on the top of the agenda of the meeting which is likely to approve it,” OPF MD Habibur Rehman told Dawn.

He said the counters would help overseas Pakistanis not only at the airports but would also readdress their complaints pertaining to different government departments.

“Representatives of several departments, including the Civil Aviation Authority, customs, Federal Investi­ga­tion Agency, Airport Secu­rity Force, Anti-Narcotics Force, health department, ministries of religious affairs and housing, revenue department and National Database and Registration Authority, would be available at the counters, he said.

The first counter has recently been set up at the Benazir Bhutto International Airport in Islamabad and such counters will soon be established in Karachi, Lahore, Peshawar, Quetta, Multan and Sialkot.

The counters are being established on the directives of the Supreme Court and the federal ombudsman. The OPF will act as coordinator in the counters’ operations.

The apex court, in May last year, took notice of manhandling of overseas Pakistanis and directed the government to evolve a system to remove grievances of overseas Pakistanis.

“Overseas Pakistanis remit $16 billion to the country every year but they are manhandled at airports,” the court deplored and recalled it had earlier taken suo motu notice of such an incident in June 2011 but to no avail.

The OPF has already set up facilitation counters at all airports in the country to solve problems faced by overseas Pakistanis at airports like clearing of luggage and service of immigration staff, etc.

The OPF board’s meeting will also review progress of work on housing projects for overseas Pakistanis in Islamabad, Lahore, Peshawar and Mirpur.

It will also approve the foundation’s budget for the year 2015-16.

Published in Dawn, May 28th, 2015

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