From Documentation Barriers to Everyday Exclusion: Experiences of Informal Settlers in Sargodha, Pakistan

Abstract

Identity documents increasingly determine who is recognized as a citizen in practice, yet little is known about how documentation barriers operate for informal settlers in Pakistan’s secondary cities. This article examines how the absence of the Computerized National Identity Card (CNIC) shapes the citizenship experience and the security of residence and work of informal settlers in Sargodha, Punjab. It draws on a classical grounded theory study based on in-depth, semi-structured interviews with 33 adults living in four informal settlement clusters, conducted between September 2025 and March 2026 and supported by field notes and analytic memos. Participants belonged to historically marginalized caste and tribal communities, and 21 (63.6%) did not hold a CNIC. Two themes, each with three subthemes, are reported. The first, unrecognized but present, is the experience as a not-visible resident of the state, as asked to hand over records they were unable to provide, and, in a number of accounts, for informal payments that they were unable to make. The second, papers, place and work, shows how the lack of proof left participants without standing to resist eviction or exploitative employers. Together, the themes describe functional statelessness: a condition in which citizenship is legally recognized but cannot be exercised because it cannot be proved. The article would suggest that invisibility is, not one of formal exclusion, but a product of ‘ordinary administrative practice’. It suggests a registration based on settlements, not tough standards of proof, access to services at a provisional basis, and protections against caste discrimination in the law.