PESHAWAR: Pakistani Labourers who are visiting Saudi Arabia are faced with a degrading process of medical diagnosis and biometric issues due to the limited number of centres, while some of the employees in these centres taking bribery to give advance appointment to their blue-eyed people, due to which the poor labourers have no option but to curse those who are taking bribes and delaying the process.
Due to this complicated process and the limited number of biometric centres and diagnostic centres, the number of overseas labourers is declining with each passing day, and people are criticising the government for this process due to the limited number of centres.
This trend would also cause severe unemployment in the country and would lead to a decline in the foreign exchange reserves of Pakistan, which are already declining at a rate of 11 per cent with each passing month.
Talking to a private news website, Adnan Paracha, Vice Chairman of Overseas Employment Promoters Association, said that Pakistan’s foreign exchange reserves have started to decline, and a decrease of 11 per cent has been recorded every month, and it is feared that this decrease will increase further in the coming months.
He said that a major reason for this situation is the problems faced by promoters sending labour force abroad. He said that corruption has increased in the medical centres and other tests conducted to go to Saudi Arabia, on which complaints have started being received from Saudi companies. These complaints are likely to increase in the coming days, which may create problems for the Pakistani workforce.
According to Adnan Paracha, the biometric system in Pakistan also needs to be improved immediately. The biometric, which should be completed in just one to two hours, often takes 2 days. People are being charged more for the biometrics process, and poor people cannot afford these expenses.
‘There are only five biometric centres across the country, where people from remote areas reach before sunrise in the morning and stand in lines and sometimes wait until evening.’
He said that the biometric fee is Rs 1,500, but due to corruption, up to Rs 5,000 is being charged. This bribery is not only a burden on the workers but is also increasing the cost of sending the workforce abroad.
He said that the government should ensure representation of promoters instead of just taking opinions, so that this business becomes more transparent and effective. At this time, foreign exchange is very important for the country’s economy, and the remittances received by Pakistan in the last financial year will inevitably increase.
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