ISLAMABAD: A parliamentary committee was informed on Thursday that the Saudi government reported a total of 1,296 individuals holding bogus Pakistani passport, who were later identified as Afghan nationals.

The information about bogus passports was revealed by officials of National Database and Registration Authority (Nadra) during a meeting of the Senate Standing Committee on Interior chaired by Faisal Saleem Rehman.

The committee directed Nadra to update it in the next meeting on actions taken against employees involved in bogus registrations and tampering with the database.

The committee also discussed reforms regarding the expiry of Computerised National Identity Cards (CNICs). The chief operating officer of Nadra explained that according to rules CNICs should be renewed every 10 years due to factors such as the lifespan of the card material, biom-etric verification and address and demographic changes like marriages.

The chairman raised the issue of the inclusion of unrelated individuals in the family trees of genuine CNIC holders. The Nadra official said a mobile application for family tree verification would be introduced in the near future. To counter such fraud, he said, the authority has now adopted a policy requiring physical verification of the applicant`s blood relatives along with biometric capture of the family member.

Meanwhile, the committee also discussed CDA`s projects of Public Sector Development Programme (PSDP). A representative from the CDA stated that a total of 22 projects were underway with a revised allocation of Rs9,780 million under the PSDP 2024-25. The Ministry of Interior has so far released Rs5,232 million. He said Rs20,769 million were needed for 17 ongoing projects and Rs63,953 million for 99 new projects.

Senator Saifullah Abro expressed concern over the delays in the completion of projects and the rising costs due to inflation. He emphasised that timely and adequate fund allocation was essential to avoid cost escalations and ensure timely delivery.

The committee, while taking notice of delays in the construction of 10th Avenue, recommended prioritising the utilisation of available funds and blocking unused allocationstopreventfuturecostincreases.

Senator Abro suggested that depart-ments must utilise the full allocated funds within the appropriate timeframe to ensure new funding for the next financial year.

The 10th Avenue project was started in 2022 and supposed to be completed in March last year but its deadline was extended twice due to insufficient progress. The government has so far released around Rs3.5 billion for the project and allocated only Rs400 million in the ongoing fiscal year, resulting in the slow progress. Currently, around 45pc work has been completed.

Under the project, a 5km road is being constructed from Katarian Bridge on Karnal Sher Khan Road to Srinager Highway near the intersection of the G-9 and G-10 sectors.

Earlier, the committee also discussed the non-issuance of a notification for appointing Senator Ahmed Khan as a member of the Real Estate Regulatory Authority. It was revealed that the concerned summary had already been submitted to the prime minister and an order was still awaited. The chairman of the committee sought a deadline for the notification.

In response, Minister of State for Interior Talal Chaudhry assured the committee that the matter would be resolved before the next committee meeting.

Tinted glass issue The Ministry of Interior also briefedthe committee on a ban on tinted vehicle glasses. It said that in 2018 the ministry had issued a notification canceling all previously issued permits for tinted glasses, and no new permits had been issued since then.

In response to the chairman`s query about policies prior to 2013, the ministry stated that it had never officially formulated such a policy. However, some permits were issued to individuals with skin cancer and other fatal skin conditions, following medical verification.

The chairman recommended formulating a policy for issuing tinted glass permits for taxpayers and industrialists.

The committee was also briefed on the establishment of restaurants and guest houses in residential areas. The director general of Building Control stated that 275 guest houses were currently operating in Islamabad`s residentialareas and that allhad received multiple notices from the CDA.

However, these establishments continue to operate under court stay orders issued since 2004, he said. The chairman of the committee also took notice of sheesha cafés in the city and the growing trend of drug use among college and university students.

He directed the authorities to take stern action against those promoting such illegal activities and to conduct random inspections across Islamabad.