Too much to handle:The delay in securing appointments at the Passport
BANGALORE: The Regional Passport Office (RPO) in Bangalore will not only increase the number of appointments at the four Passport Seva Kendras (PSK) in the State but also throw open its office in Koramangala here to accept applications from May 2.
Drive
Addressing presspersons here on Friday in the wake of complaints from passport applicants, K.J. Srinivasa, Regional Passport Officer, Bangalore, said the Regional Passport Office, along with Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), its private partner in the Passport Seva Project, has launched an appointment handling drive to squeeze in an additional 1,450 appointments every day at its PSKs from the present 2,479, apart from accepting 250 to 300 applications at the Regional Passport Office in Koramangala.
To start with, the RPO, Koramangala, will accept hard copies of passport applications from May 2 to 31, 2011 to clear the rush.
“This special drive will not only provide an outlet for those who have not got appointments, but will also help cut the waiting period for future applicants.”
Tokens to be issued
Tokens will be issued from 9.15 a.m. to 12 noon on a first come, first served basis. “Applicants will have to bring all the requisite original documents with a set of photocopies along with a demand draft for the corresponding amount,” Dr. Srinivasa said.
This is expected to bring down the application-to-appointment cycle to one day in the Mangalore PSK and two weeks in the Bangalore PSKs by mid-May.
Big jump
He attributed the delay in securing appointments to an 88 per cent jump in the number of applicants over the past 11 months.
“It went up from 1,103 a day in 2007 to 1,311 in 2008 before reaching 1,700 per day in 2010. At present, the number of applicants had reached 2,479,” he said.
Dr. Srinivasa said the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), New Delhi, had assured the RPO, Bangalore, that .additional staff would be deployed from other Passport Offices in south India to clear the rush.
The Hindu report
Following a report appearing in The Hindu on April 28 on the chaotic conditions at the PSKs in the city where frustrated applicants vented their anger against the PSKs' working, senior MEA officials held a meeting with TCS representatives in New Delhi on Friday to review the system.
Faulty documents
He said the RPO, Bangalore, had to discontinue receiving passport applications at the Speed Post Passport Application Collection Centres and BangaloreOne centres as 30 per cent to 40 per cent of the applications lacked proper documents, leading to unnecessary delays in processing.
Rural applicants
However, keeping the interests of applicants from rural areas who face financial and technological difficulties in submitting online applications at the PSKs, the provision to send applications through District Passport Cells (DPC) and the Passport Application Collection Centre (PACC), Gulbarga, continues.
The PACC, Gulbarga, will soon be upgraded to a mini PSK.
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