ISHFAQULLAH SHAWL
ISLAMABAD: National Database and Registration Authority (Nadra) after successful test operation of electronic passport (e-passport) is looking towards the government for final nod which will help the Authority to get foreign contracts, said Tariq Malik, Deputy Chairman, Nadra here on Monday.
“Keeping in view the deadline of UN International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) of 2015 for moving to e-passports, Nadra has successfully designed the software of e-passport and it is now up to the government to move further towards e-government and transparency”, Tariq Malik said while talking to Business Recorder.
“After successful test operation we have sent a summary to Interior Ministry for final nod”, Malik said, adding that the Interior Ministry constituted a special committee which will prepare PC-I for the project.
Secretary Interior Qamar Zaman Chaudhry will head the committee, which includes Director General Immigration and Passports, Wajid Ali Bokhari, Chairman Nadra and Additional Secretary Interior, the committee will design the project for formal launch of the e-passport in Pakistan, he said.
He said that the Nadra has designed the software for the project and after successful test operation it has been made public so that countries interested in this technology will contact us. “Once this technology is used in Pakistan it will help us gain more contracts”, he added. “We did it on our own after seeing international trends”, Nadra deputy chief said responding to a question, adding that no one directed Nadra to make the effort and like producing the Machine Readable Passport (MRP) it was sole effort of Nadra experts.
He said that e-passport will have a chip, the Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) bearing complete facial data and fingerprints of the holder and it will help immigration authorities abroad to clear the Pakistani nationals with ease. The holder of e-passport will not pass through any screening test anywhere in the world, he added.
Responding to a question, he said that the e-passport would be similar to the present MRP and a DFID chip will be installed at the back page of the passport. The bar-code on the passport will be used in the country which has not obtained this modern technology, he said.
He said that about 52 countries are using the e-passport round the globe while remaining are moving towards attaining this technology. It will not only bring transparency but also help eradicate human smuggling, forgery of passports and render illegal immigration difficult, he added.
This, he said will help improve Pakistan’s image internationally and give the world a message that the Pakistanis believe in transparency and are law abiding people. To another question, Tariq Malik said that the cost of the passport will be decided by the Immigration and Passports Department but it will not be more than the current passport’s cost. “We are in favour of making it cost,” he added.
Nadra has achieved the hallmark of developing and implementing one of the first Multi-Biometric e-passports, which enabled Pakistan to become one of the countries to issue the Multi-biometric e-passport compliant to ICAO standards, Malik said, adding that the credit goes to IT experts of Nadra who are working selflessly for the development of e-governance in the country.
Source: Daily Times
Date:4/13/2010
