The time taken for issue
of passports has been progressively reduced in recent years. The process for
Passport issuance sometimes becomes longer due to:
(i)
Late receipt of police verification reports beyond the stipulated time of
21 days;
(ii)
Receipt of incomplete police reports;
(iii)
Increase in demand for passport to the tune of 15% in a year; and
(iv)
Shortage of manpower in the Central Passport Organization, to deal with
the increasing demand for passport services.
The Government
has taken several corrective steps to reduce delay in passport issuance. As police verification of personal particulars and antecedents of
applicants is critical to Passport issuance, Passport Offices keep in touch
with Police to expedite Police Verification reports. Passport Offices conduct Passport Melas at PSKs on weekends from
time to time for meeting high demand of passports. Passport Adalats, on need
basis, are also conducted by Passport Offices to redress passport service
grievances by dealing with citizens directly.
Inspections of PSKs and Passport Offices are conducted from time to time to
improve service delivery. Steps have also been taken to fill up the existing
vacancies by recruitment through the Staff Selection Commission, fast-track
promotion and deputation, wherever applicable. The Government has recently
invited applications from suitable candidates to fill up the vacant posts
through deputation at the level of Passport Officer, Deputy Passport Officer
and Assistant Passport Officer. An indent to fill up vacant posts of Lower
Division Clerk has already been placed with the Staff Selection Commission.
Pending filling up of vacancies on regular basis, the Ministry has engaged upto
450 Data Entry Operators in the Passport Offices against vacant non-gazetted
posts.
Delay and
interruption in supply of passport booklets by the manufacturer, the India
Security Press (ISP), Nashik, has caused some backlog in passport issuance. It
has been impressed upon them to speed up supplies and to maintain strategic
reserve in future to avoid shortage in future. The supplies from ISP Nashik at
requisite level will be restored by August, 2014.
Passport Seva Kendras:
(i) The
Public-Private-Partnership (PPP) approach adopted by the Government has, in
fact, resulted in speedier passport service delivery, better accountability,
transparency and error-free issuance of passports. At the Passport Seva Kendras(PSKs)
which are headed by a Government officer, only front-end activities, such as token issuance, initial scrutiny of
the application forms, digitization of documents, taking photographs and
biometrics are performed by the Service Provider’s staff. The core and
sovereign functions such as verification of supporting documents, police
verification, decision on grant of passports, revocation and impounding of
passports, are performed by the Government personnel.
(ii) The
Passport Portal (www.passportindia.gov.in)
is accessible to anyone, anywhere and anytime. The applicants apply for
passport services online, pay Passport Fee also through the Portal and visit
the PSK at the appointed date and time. Approximately, one lakh internet
enabled Common Services Centres (CSCs) in rural areas have been authorized to
facilitate online passport application service to citizens at a nominal charge
not exceeding Rs. 100/-. The objective behind receiving applicants with prior
appointment is to reduce waiting time to the minimum.
(iii) Applicants’
presence in person at the PSK enables the Passport Issuing Authority to obtain
their photograph and fingerprints to prevent the incidence of impersonation.
(iv) The
Passport system has interface with the police for verification of personal
particulars of applicants and with India Post for tracking delivery of
passports. Status of applications can also be tracked through the Passport
Portal. An e-mail based helpdesk facility and a 24x7 National Call Centre has
been set up to provide requisite information to citizens. An SMS message is
sent to the citizen as soon as the passport is dispatched. The number of public
dealing counters has been increased from the erstwhile 350 to 1610 in the new
system and public dealing hours have gone up from 4 hours to 7 hours a day. An
mPassport Seva app is also available to provide passport service related
information including tracking of passport application status. For assistance
one can call toll-free helpline 1800-258-1800.
(d) & (e) There
have been some cases of malpractices by touts/travel agencies. All the
Passport Offices have been directed to approach the local police for conducting
raids around PSKs/RPOs for nabbing touts operating in the area. The
instructions have been reiterated on 17th April, 2014. The RPOs
have written to the concerned police officials to conduct raids to eliminate
activities of touts. The Passport Portal also carries advisory cautioning the
public not to fall prey to machinations of touts who promise speedy service. An
advisory has also been posted on the Passport Portal cautioning against dealing
with dubious and fraudulent websites claiming ‘authorisation/recognition’ by
the Government. The mandatory requirement of personal presence of passport
applicants at the PSKs has minimized the activities of touts/travel agencies.
The applicants also get full opportunity to see and affirm their personal
particulars to be entered in the passport to avoid unnecessary correspondence
later. This has made the system more transparent and speeded up passport
delivery.
This Information
was given by the Minister of state in the Ministry of External Affairs and
Overseas Indian Affairs Gen. (Retd.) Dr. V. K. Singh in Rajya Sabha today.
YSK/ Uma