IT takes several months to more than a year in some cases for overseas Pakistanis to renew the already issued Pakistan Origin Card (POC) when it expires, which causes great inconvenience to Pakistanis living abroad.

The consul-general of Pakistan in Frankfurt and Pakistan ambassador in Berlin are aware of this fact and often write letters to Nadra. Nadra charges high amount of fees for this service, but they do not do the job in time.

It is unreasonable to ask for renewal of all documents once again in order for POCs to be renewed, as all these documents had already been furnished at the time of the issuance of the POC. If some fake cards have been issued due to the inefficiency of the issuing authority, why should a large number of genuine cardholders suffer for this?

The reason for these delays by the Nadra personnel lies in their total dissatisfaction with their working conditions, lack of motivation and job insecurity.

According to press reports, Nadra employees had been on strike about their demand for converting their contracts into permanent positions and resumed work only on an assurance to this effect by the government.

Recently I visited Pakistan and had been to a Nadra office to know about a POC. During the visit I asked the Nadra employees about their job positions, and was told that the ministry of interior had not yet made permanent the jobs of contract employees in spite of the assuance given to them.

The sufferers are the POC holders who pay high fees in foreign currency but do not get appropriate service.

The ministry of interior and the ministry of overseas Pakistanis should look into the problem.

Dr SYED LAIK ALI Germany