New districts leave residents struggling with outdated documents

Several years after Karachi’s administrative boundaries were changed, thousands of residents continue to face difficulties because their official documents still carry the names of their former districts.

The issue has created problems in applying for government jobs, university admissions and other services that require district-based verification or quotas.

Karachi’s districts were reorganised when Korangi was separated from East District and Keamari was carved out of West District. Malir had already been established as a separate district. Following these changes, residents were expected to update their domiciles, Permanent Residence Certificates (PRCs) and CNIC addresses according to their new districts.

However, many citizens have not updated their records, either because they were unaware of the requirement or because they only attempted to do so when a specific need arose.

Residents complain that visiting several government offices is time-consuming, particularly for daily-wage workers and salaried employees who cannot afford to take repeated days off.

One Korangi resident, Imran Ahmed, faced the issue while applying for a Grade-5 government position. Although he lived in Korangi, his domicile and PRC still identified him as a resident of East District. As a result, he was posted to a school in East District and had to approach the Korangi Deputy Commissioner’s Office to resolve the matter.

Similarly, Keamari resident Abdul Quddus experienced delays while obtaining a domicile for his daughter because his own documents were registered under the former West District. Verification required visits to offices in both Keamari and West.

Residents have also reported complications in medical college admissions due to changes in district-based seat allocations.

Citizens argue that government departments should automatically update records after administrative changes rather than placing the responsibility on residents. Karachi currently has seven districts, and many official documents still do not reflect residents’ current districts. However, Keamari Deputy Commissioner Abdul Sattar Hakro said such changes generally do not create major problems for citizens.