Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi on Monday inaugurated ‘Shikra’, a state-of-the-art monitoring system designed to track passport applications, printing processes, and departmental performances in real time.
The upgrade includes the establishment of a 24/7 monitoring room and a call centre at the Directorate General of Immigration and Passports. On the minister’s directives, the issuance of Emergency Travel Documents has also been fully digitised.
Officials briefed Naqvi on the Secure Hybrid Intelligence for Knowledge-Based Response Analytics (Shikra) system, which integrates operational oversight with performance tracking.
The interior minister commended the DG Immigration and Passports and his team for introducing a modern, technology-driven monitoring framework.
He said Pakistan’s passport system has now been aligned with those of the world’s leading countries.
“With this new system, real-time monitoring of passport applications and deliveries both within Pakistan and abroad will now be possible,” the minister said.
“Every stage, from application submission to final delivery, will be closely supervised.”
Naqvi said the government aims to provide citizens with fast, secure, and globally standardised services, adding that the upgraded monitoring framework would further improve departmental efficiency.
He also highlighted enhancements in passport security features, noting that they have been upgraded to meet ICAO (International civil aviation organization) standards. According to the minister, the installation of new automatic German printing machines has increased production capacity, eliminated human intervention in printing, and improved overall reliability.
Under the new system, crowd levels at passport offices will be detected automatically, while the Network Management System will monitor backlogs and machinery status.