Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah presiding over a cabinet meeting here at CM House on Tuesday directed all the divisional commissioners to scrutinize all the domiciles/PRC certificates issued in all the districts during the last three years and report him within 60 days so that decision in the misuse of domicile/PRC could be taken accordingly and stop such practice for good.
He also directed the chief secretary to fix the responsibility on the officers/officials involved in issuing fake domiciles/PRC certificates so that exemplary punishments could be awarded to them.
The meeting was attended by all the ministers, advisors, special assistants, Chief Secretary Mumtaz Shah, Advocate General Sindh Salman Talibuddin and other concerned officers.The cabinet raised the issue of misuse of Sindh domicile/PRC certificates by non-residents of the province for obtaining admission in educational institutes and government jobs, both federal and provincial, against the quota reserved for residents of the province.
Domicile/PRC: It may be noted that the chief minister had constituted a committee under the Senior Member Board of Revenue (SMBR) in May 2020 to probe into the matter of misuse of domicile/PRC certificates.
The committee probed into the process of issuance of domicile/PRC in four districts-Larkana, Kashmore-Kandhkot, Ghotki and Jamshoro and submitted a report.According to the report 423 cases were examined, of them 154 were declared suspicious in four districts on various grounds.
ACS Home QaziShahid Pervez briefing the cabinet said that the deputy commissioners have delegated the responsibility of issuing domicile/PRC certificates to ADCs /ACs and no field enquiry was being conducted.
He added that the processing/approval sheet showed a `mechanical’ process, without application of mind, by the concerned staff/ authority.It was pointed out that a private company was tasked to do the important work of domicile/PRC without adequate checks and balances.
The Important documents like the affidavit were not administered properly and many were found defective. Most of the required documents required as ‘proof of residence’ were not attested / verified. Sindh Chief Minister, after thorough discussion with the cabinet members, said that the Domicile Certificate was wrongly used as a proof for permanent residence at a particular place.
He added that under Pakistan Citizenship Act, 1951 domicile was the certificate of citizenship of Pakistan and did not limit it to any province or a particular place. Similarly, Pakistan Citizenship Rules, 1952 declares it for Permanent Residence in Pakistan, he said and added the Permanent Residence Certificate (PRC) is a document of residence in a particular area. Shah, with the approval of the cabinet, constituted a committee to review the rules of domicile and PRC and suggest amendments.
The committee comprises Minister Revenue MakhdoomMahboob, MinisterIrrigation Jam Khan Shoro, Advisor Law MurtazaWahab and Senior Member Board of Revenue.
The chief minister directed all the divisional commissioners to conduct a detailed scrutiny of the domiciles/PRCs issued in their districts during the last three years and submit a report. Meanwhile, the chief minister directed the IT department to develop a database of the domiciles/PRCs.
