Government Initiative

Imran launches portal for overseas Pakistanis to get power of attorney

Prime Minister Imran Khan presently introduced an initiative for automation of power of attorney for overseas Pakistanis, saying it would assist the diaspora in acquiring legal documents. Speaking during the curtain-raising ceremony of the facility, the Prime Minister Imran said that they planned to introduce the initiative in 2019 after an overseas Pakistani shared on PM portal that how they faced difficulty in getting their legal documents. From there we got a plan to digitalize the PM portal, making it easy for the overseas Pakistanis to access various facilities via an online platform, he said while lauding the services of the overseas Pakistanis for the country and terming them as one of the biggest assets of Pakistan. According to the economic survey of Pakistan, the country is one of the largest labour exporting country in the region. Overseas migrant workers are the most valuable asset of Pakistan and they are playing key role in the socio-economic development of the country through their remittances. More than 11.43 million Pakistanis have proceeded abroad for employment to over 50 countries through official procedures. The migration of Pakistani workers is mostly concentrated to Gulf Cooperation Council countries (96 percent) with Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates hosting the majority. During 2020, statistics showed that Bureau of Emigration & Overseas Employment has registered 224,705 for overseas employment as compared to emigrants 625,203 in 2019 showing a decrease of 400,498 people as compared to the last year. It is evident that Saudi Arabia (KSA) is the main destination country for Pakistani emigrants where more than 60 percent of emigrants proceeded followed by UAE (24 percent) and Oman (4.6 percent). Due to COVID-19 pandemic, overall a falling trend was observed in terms of emigrants registered in 2020 including GCC countries. The COVID-19 pandemic hampered the manpower export not only from Pakistan but also from other regional countries. Statistics showed that a total of 224,705 emigrants were registered for overseas employment from Pakistan in year 2020 as compared to 625,203 registered in 2019 which shows the decline of 400,498 emigrants. Similarly, India and Bangladesh faced a fall of 273,093 and 482,490 respectively in terms of emigrants registered during 2020 as compared to 2019.

PM said that it was owing to the confidence of the diaspora in them that a record US$30 billion has been remitted to Pakistan during their tenure. We have owned the overseas Pakistanis and after giving them the right to vote, now every government will have to facilitate them in order to get their 9 million votes. PM Imran Khan also lamented a delayed use of technology in the country and said that it has eased things worldwide and denying its use is nothing but foolishness. It is also recorded that in 2008, the ECP supported the use of EVM in the polls, he said adding that previous year, 1.5 million votes were discarded and if technology was used then it could have been managed. Imran Khan further shared how the use of technology at utility stores and in FBR by track and trace systems has hit the snags owing to legal hurdles created by none other than their employees. Attempts are underway to bring track and trace system for the last 15 years and after present attempts, it will be introduced soon. Sources recorded that during the ceremony, an contract was inked between the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and NADRA, under which NADRA would offer 24/7 uninterrupted online services for attestation of power of attorney. Automation of attestation of power of attorney has been a longstanding demand of the overseas Pakistanis and will facilitate those who have to travel long distances from dissimilar cities and far-off places to the missions. This automated system will reduce costs and minimise hassle through offering attestation services at people’s doorsteps. The automation of power of attorney has been initially launched as a pilot project in 10 Pakistan missions/sub-missions in US and UK and will be replicated shortly at all Pakistan missions abroad.