Launch of ‘Shikra’

2026-01-27 - 23:31

INTERIOR Minister Mohsin Naqvi on Monday inaugurated Secure Hybrid Intelligence for Knowledge-Based Response Analytics (SHIKRA), a state-of-the-art monitoring system to track passport applications, printing and departmental performance in real time. As part of the upgrade, a 24/7 monitoring room and a call centre have been made operational at the DG Immigration and Passports. On the Minister’s directives, the system for issuing Emergency Travel Documents has also been fully digitized. This is, indeed, yet another feather in the cap of the Minister, who has been making hectic endeavours to modernize the working of different departments under his portfolio. Modernization of the passport system was long overdue in view of the growing importance of this national identity for international travel as the number of people going abroad for employment and religious purposes is increasing significantly every year. In fact, in the past, the issuance of passports became a scandalous affair as the authorities concerned miserably failed to keep pace with the demand for passports despite hefty charges and fees. The waiting time was not facilitative but penalized job and Umrah seekers. In this backdrop, the Minister and DG Passports and Immigration deserve appreciation for aligning Pakistan’s passport system with those of the world’s leading countries. Introduction of new automatic German printing machines have increased production capacity, eliminated human intervention in printing and improved overall reliability. Security features of the passport have been improved and under the new system, passport office crowd levels will be detected automatically, while the Network Management System will track backlogs and machinery status. Hopefully, improvements will help reduce deadlines for issuance of both ordinary and urgent passports and that too with minimal human interference.