Passport wish Passport Office Srinagar recently said that the office processed around 57000 passport applications in 2014. A month after floods hit the state, external affairs ministry spokesperson, Syed Akbaruddin, said that passport holders whose passport got damaged or were lost in floods will be issued new ones with same validity and without any fee being charged. These are among some positive developments observed lately. However, the role of Srinagar Passport Office has been questioned and believed by many to be dismal when Valley was flooded. The Office shifted from Srinagar to Jammu, putting many passport seekers through the trouble of moving from pillar to post to get the clearance for visiting outside the country. Reportedly, many had to postpone their visits when the Office shut down in floods. Though the Office has resumed services in Srinagar, it is yet to get on track. The phone numbers on the website of the Passport Office are not working and now street vendors everywhere are promising that they can get the passports to the people. The Central government office has made a mockery of the rules as people are blaming that the renewal of the passports is getting delayed. The much bigger trouble lies with the police clearences, the people are being unnecessarily harassed for the police clearances. Lack of coordination between the Office and the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) has also been responsible in delaying issuance of passports. On top of it a number of reports have been published suggesting one or the other responsible for blacklisting candidates/applicants who have any member in family involved in militancy. The Passport Office should realize that issuing passport is one of the essential services and at the time when the Central government is making it mandatory for the services to be delivered in some deadline, it is taking months for people to get the passports. It is now operating through agents who are fleecing the people in getting the travel documents and genuine passport holders are being denied the facilities for no fault of theirs. Srinagar Passport Office needs to upgrade its web interface with the applicants and it should gear up to make available the service to the people in a given time. The Passport Office should also discourage pendency which is one of the main reasons for the people to bribe the officials to get the passports. The deadwood must be removed and the confidence of people should be restored on this vital government department.
Posted on: Mon, 05 Jan 2015 06:30:11 +0000
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