THIS is apropos of Rana Sajid’s letter ‘Passport seekers’ woes in Faisalabad’ (July 11) . I would like to point out to the authorities concerned that the situation in Lahore is no different from the situation in Faisalabad as mentioned by Mr Sajid.

Last month I had to go to the Nadra office, situated in Lahore’s Barkat Market, to get my passport made. I reached the Nadra office at 9am but returned home at 5pm, completely exhausted.

There were about 100 people outside in the long queue waiting for their turn, and then inside there were even more people, around 500, some of them were sitting while others were standing waiting for their numbers to be called.

The worst part was that the majority of the people had given Rs1,000 to different agents and, as a result, their turn at each of the different countres came quicker and they received VIP treatment. This aspect is absolutely unfair for the rest of the public who engages in the whole process sincerely without offering any bribes.

It is only when the government adopts a strict policy to abolish this unfair treatment, dishonesty and the bribe system that Pakistan can successfully make progress and become a developed country.

The infrastructure at the Nadra office is also very poor: air-conditioning was hardly working and there were few ceiling fans and chairs to make comfortable the entire public in the hot weather.

Pakistan does receive a lot of foreign aid. Instead of wasting this aid, the authorities concerned should improve the infrastructure of such public areas as the Nadra office because getting a national identity card made and getting a passport made when necessary is a basic human right.

HAJRA AQIL Lahore