In Balochistan, a local certificate is a document issued by a district authority to certify that the holder is a permanent resident of the district. This certificate is used to avail jobs and scholarship opportunities available for people of that particular district in Balochistan. The same certificate is also used for applying for federal government jobs on Balochistan’s quota.
Besides a local certificate, a domicile certificate is also issued to permanent residents of Balochistan who do not belong to recognized Baloch, Pashtun and Hazara tribes. In other words, people who have migrated to Balochistan from other provinces are issued domicile certificates which can be used in the same way as a local certificate. However, the rampant issue of bogus local and domicile certificates has rendered the six percent quota of Balochistan in federal jobs ineffective.
The problem can be traced back to the 1970s, when Balochistan attained the status of a province. Officers of erstwhile District Management Group (DMG) and current Pakistan Administrative Services (PAS) were sent to serve on top administrative positions. Most of these officers did not belong to Balochistan. They served as deputy commissioners, among other positions, and had full authority to issue domicile certificates. During their service, they issued domicile certificates of Balochistan for their relatives who had never seen the province. The idea was that it was easier for an applicant to get a federal job in Balochistan because the competition was not very tough compared to other provinces.
According to some estimates, hundreds of thousands of bogus domiciles were issued. People with such certificates have held jobs on Balochistan’s quota in the federal government for years.
It is only in last few years that people began to protest this practice. Former chief minister Dr Malik Baloch asked the federal government in September 2015 to ensure scrutiny of domicile certificates of applicants before appointing them on Balochistan’s quota.
Another dimension of the problem is the issue of bogus local certificates. According to rules, a local certificate is issued if tribal elders or elected representatives of the local government certify that a person is a bona fide resident of a district. In some cases, these tribal elders and local government representatives began certifying people of other provinces in exchange for favours. In fact, a few years ago, a clerk of the district administration of Quetta was arrested by National Accountability Bureau (NAB) from Lahore on corruption charges. The clerk had served in the branch that issued local and domicile certificates for years.
A Balochistan government official seeking anonymity told this scribe that in district Chagai, domiciles certificates issued were twice the size of the population of the district. This means that hundreds of thousands of bogus domiciles have been issued from just one district of Balochistan only. He added that in 2014, three people with dubious domiciles certificates were allocated seats on Balochistan’s quota. He said the civil society in Balochistan had campaigned for cancelling their allocation but no headway was made. The same official claimed that most federal jobs from Balochistan were occupied by bogus domicile holders.
Another aspect of this issue is the possession of local certificates from multiple districts of Balochistan. People have local certificates from multiple districts because there is no central database. At the time of applying for jobs, people use their local certificate of a district which has lesser competition. A Balochistan High Court judgment of 2009 declares that an applicant possessing two local certificates at the time of applying for a job or scholarships was ineligible. However, the government has no means to find out if a person possesses multiple local certificates.
Public pressure, however, is forcing some district administrations to take action. Some of districts have issued notices in newspapers asking all local and domicile certificate holders to submit their supporting documents for verification. Those who fail to do so would face cancellation of their certificates.
Admission of three students in Government College University in Faisalabad was cancelled last month after it was discovered that they had submitted fake domicile certificates of Balochistan. Some districts - Khuzdar, Loralai, Pishin and Nushki - have computerized the local certificate issuing process.
Zahir Mengal is the district IT officer in Nushki and in-charge of computerization of local certificates. He told The Friday Times that the district administration had decided to go digital when it several cases of bogus local certificates. They installed a computerized certificate issuing system for Rs350,000, where an applicant visits in person as they would when applying for a national identity card or passport.
“Details of the applicant are crosschecked with NADRA and stored in the computer the certificates are issued,” he said. He claimed that the system would prevent bogus certificates being issued in the future. “We do not have means to digitize the old record,” he said.
Senator Kabir Muhammad Shahi from National Party has spoken against bogus domicile certificates of Balochistan.
He asked from the government to present in writing that how many federal government employees on Balochistan’s quota had genuine domicile certificates. “I am waiting for their answer and then I will decide the future course of action on this matter,” he told The Friday Times. He added that the federal government was very cautious when it came to giving data in writing because then it became part of public record and legally binding.
Another problem is the legal confusion on this matter. Domicile certificates are issued under Section 17 of the Pakistan Citizenship Act (1951), which is not clear on the issue of local certificates. Local certificates are issued under the administrative authority of deputy commissioners in Balochistan. The lack of a proper legal framework also contributes to the practice of issue of bogus local and domicile certificates.
The solution to this problem lies in drafting and approving a law regulating the issue of local and domicile certificates. This law should remove the distinction between local and domicile certificates and only one document should be issued. This law should provide clear and detailed rules for eligibility for getting a local certificate. At the same time, the law should make it mandatory to digitize certificates of entire province and share the database with NADRA. This process will automatically detect and eliminate many fake certificates and ensure transparency.
This practice will require political resolve, time, dedication and financial resources. For a province which wastes billions of rupees on building and roads which existing only on paper, there is no harm in allocating few million rupees for digitization of local certificate records.
The author is a journalist and researcher based in Quetta. He can be reached on Twitter @iAdnanAamir
Besides a local certificate, a domicile certificate is also issued to permanent residents of Balochistan who do not belong to recognized Baloch, Pashtun and Hazara tribes. In other words, people who have migrated to Balochistan from other provinces are issued domicile certificates which can be used in the same way as a local certificate. However, the rampant issue of bogus local and domicile certificates has rendered the six percent quota of Balochistan in federal jobs ineffective.
The problem can be traced back to the 1970s, when Balochistan attained the status of a province. Officers of erstwhile District Management Group (DMG) and current Pakistan Administrative Services (PAS) were sent to serve on top administrative positions. Most of these officers did not belong to Balochistan. They served as deputy commissioners, among other positions, and had full authority to issue domicile certificates. During their service, they issued domicile certificates of Balochistan for their relatives who had never seen the province. The idea was that it was easier for an applicant to get a federal job in Balochistan because the competition was not very tough compared to other provinces.
Domicile certificates are issued under Section 17 of the Pakistan Citizenship Act (1951), which is not clear on the issue of local certificates
According to some estimates, hundreds of thousands of bogus domiciles were issued. People with such certificates have held jobs on Balochistan’s quota in the federal government for years.
It is only in last few years that people began to protest this practice. Former chief minister Dr Malik Baloch asked the federal government in September 2015 to ensure scrutiny of domicile certificates of applicants before appointing them on Balochistan’s quota.
Another dimension of the problem is the issue of bogus local certificates. According to rules, a local certificate is issued if tribal elders or elected representatives of the local government certify that a person is a bona fide resident of a district. In some cases, these tribal elders and local government representatives began certifying people of other provinces in exchange for favours. In fact, a few years ago, a clerk of the district administration of Quetta was arrested by National Accountability Bureau (NAB) from Lahore on corruption charges. The clerk had served in the branch that issued local and domicile certificates for years.
A Balochistan government official seeking anonymity told this scribe that in district Chagai, domiciles certificates issued were twice the size of the population of the district. This means that hundreds of thousands of bogus domiciles have been issued from just one district of Balochistan only. He added that in 2014, three people with dubious domiciles certificates were allocated seats on Balochistan’s quota. He said the civil society in Balochistan had campaigned for cancelling their allocation but no headway was made. The same official claimed that most federal jobs from Balochistan were occupied by bogus domicile holders.
Another aspect of this issue is the possession of local certificates from multiple districts of Balochistan. People have local certificates from multiple districts because there is no central database. At the time of applying for jobs, people use their local certificate of a district which has lesser competition. A Balochistan High Court judgment of 2009 declares that an applicant possessing two local certificates at the time of applying for a job or scholarships was ineligible. However, the government has no means to find out if a person possesses multiple local certificates.
Public pressure, however, is forcing some district administrations to take action. Some of districts have issued notices in newspapers asking all local and domicile certificate holders to submit their supporting documents for verification. Those who fail to do so would face cancellation of their certificates.
Admission of three students in Government College University in Faisalabad was cancelled last month after it was discovered that they had submitted fake domicile certificates of Balochistan. Some districts - Khuzdar, Loralai, Pishin and Nushki - have computerized the local certificate issuing process.
Zahir Mengal is the district IT officer in Nushki and in-charge of computerization of local certificates. He told The Friday Times that the district administration had decided to go digital when it several cases of bogus local certificates. They installed a computerized certificate issuing system for Rs350,000, where an applicant visits in person as they would when applying for a national identity card or passport.
“Details of the applicant are crosschecked with NADRA and stored in the computer the certificates are issued,” he said. He claimed that the system would prevent bogus certificates being issued in the future. “We do not have means to digitize the old record,” he said.
Senator Kabir Muhammad Shahi from National Party has spoken against bogus domicile certificates of Balochistan.
He asked from the government to present in writing that how many federal government employees on Balochistan’s quota had genuine domicile certificates. “I am waiting for their answer and then I will decide the future course of action on this matter,” he told The Friday Times. He added that the federal government was very cautious when it came to giving data in writing because then it became part of public record and legally binding.
Another problem is the legal confusion on this matter. Domicile certificates are issued under Section 17 of the Pakistan Citizenship Act (1951), which is not clear on the issue of local certificates. Local certificates are issued under the administrative authority of deputy commissioners in Balochistan. The lack of a proper legal framework also contributes to the practice of issue of bogus local and domicile certificates.
The solution to this problem lies in drafting and approving a law regulating the issue of local and domicile certificates. This law should remove the distinction between local and domicile certificates and only one document should be issued. This law should provide clear and detailed rules for eligibility for getting a local certificate. At the same time, the law should make it mandatory to digitize certificates of entire province and share the database with NADRA. This process will automatically detect and eliminate many fake certificates and ensure transparency.
This practice will require political resolve, time, dedication and financial resources. For a province which wastes billions of rupees on building and roads which existing only on paper, there is no harm in allocating few million rupees for digitization of local certificate records.
The author is a journalist and researcher based in Quetta. He can be reached on Twitter @iAdnanAamir