The National Assembly’s Standing Committee on Interior has sought details of blue passports, asking how many of the 49,000 passports are held by parliamentarians and how many by bureaucrats.
During the meeting, the Director General of Passports said the number of blue passports had been reduced from 75,000 to 49,000 to facilitate visa-free travel arrangements with various countries.
The DG Passports said that if blue passports were to remain valid only while an individual held the office of an MNA, the existing rules would apply.
Minister of State for Interior Talal Chaudhry said he should be given time to find a solution regarding blue passports.
It may be recalled that the Senate recently unanimously passed a bill to grant lifetime blue passports to senators.
Senator Abdul Qadir introduced the Passport Act Amendment Bill, proposing that retired parliamentarians who had taken the oath as members of the National Assembly or Senate should be entitled to retain and use their blue passports, regardless of whether they had completed their terms.
The bill also proposed granting blue passports to the children of parliamentarians.
During the debate, Senator Nasir Butt suggested cancelling the blue passports of retired officials, secretaries and judges.
Senator Abdul Qadir argued that if the children of Grade-22 government officers were eligible for blue passports, the children of parliamentarians should also be entitled to the facility.
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