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The great Indian passport farce
Written By idontspam - 2 June, 2010
Bangalore Complaint Others Everything else MEA
My sister visited Passport Service Kendra in Devarabeesanahalli on the 25th for the reissue of passport of her minor child. Needed to travel for a family emergency so she checked the option for tatkal.
First WTF moment. The officer checking the application scratches out her tatkal mark and ticks normal, reason given, another inspecting officer will make the determination after hearing your case and not you.
Second WTF moment. She waits patiently for the interview where the officer says oh you marked normal on your application so you wont get tatkal. He didnt accept the argument that his own officer, who was nowhere to be seen at that time, had changed it. As a solace she is told the passport will arrive in 3 days flat.
So all arrangements to handle the family emergency and postponement of tickets on penalty is arranged. Now comes the whammy its 2nd june and no trace of the passport. Status as of 2nd June is
"Passport will be dispatched within 3 working days excluding the date of submission."
A web query to check the status met with the following response
"Dear XYZ,
Greetings!
The request having reference ID 102010009445, has been resolved successfully.
Please note that the description provided by you is: Wants to know the status BN2071268718410 (01/07/2005) of her child
Please find enclosed response in this regard as follows:
Info. given
Hope we have been able to address your concern with satisfaction."
Info given? Where? Is this the way one responds to a query?
The toll free number predictably parrots out the 3 day lie. The PSK number is never available. So she goes personally to the PSK and is told to go to RPO at Koramangala where the line to get a token for enquiry is a mile long and the actual enquiry line 2 miles long. Once her turn at the token counter came. "Out of tokens madam, come tomorrow"??? So the whole day wasted for nothing.
Frantic calls to agents to help understand what is going on reveals some startling facts. The 3 day promise is a farce. It is a white lie being perpetrated on millions of gullible citizens by their own government by thoroughly incompetent officers in the passport department. It never arrives until 10 & 15 days have passed. In fact most people I have talked to have had this bad experience and worry no citizen takes this up and shows the workers up for the lie that they perpetrate. I have been told that there is a major malaise in the workings of the agency. I am sad that SM Krishna may have retired on the job while his department perpetrates fraud among their own citizens
If this personal medical situation in the far away land becomes a tragedy I will hold the MEA responsible for first arbitrarily assigning priority to my sisters passport request and then providing false information on ETA. A PIL is due, I am collecting info on many people who have suffered at the passport office hands through agents etc. If you have a story to tell plese do post here.
COMMENTS
Indian bureaucracy worst in Asia
idontspam - 2 June, 2010 - 15:16
As if to rub it in... this survey clearly states Indian bureaucracy is the worst in Asia.
Writing about India, PERC said, "politicians frequently promise to reform and revitalise the Indian bureaucracy, but they have been ineffective in doing so--mainly because the civil service is a power centre in its own right".
The consultancy noted that dealing with India's bureaucracy "can be one of the most frustrating experiences for any Indian, let alone a foreign investor".
ssheragu
actually I have a different story to tell;
I went on the first day the Devarasibanahalli started functioning, even before there was formal innaguration by SM Krishna
since many did not know the new address or the rendering of passport services by PSK's, there was not at all a queue on the first day
I applied for my passport under tatkal
I got my passport in three days flat; i. e. I applied for my passport actually a re-issue on May 24 and I got it on May 26
But today when I went to the PSK in Devarasibanahalli for some other reason, there was a big queue
The main grouse or complaint that I have agianst the PSK Is lack of parking space
I hope that PSK's will deliver passports and render passport services quickly
Many thanks
Srinath Heragu
idontspam - 2 June, 2010 - 17:43
I applied for my passport under tatkal
Incidentally, on may 24th after waiting for 30 minutes at the RPO in Koramangala she was handpicked along with a few "locals" and ferried in a shuttle to PSK2 (devarabeesanahalli). She was told under tatkal the passport will be given in ONE day not 3 but sent back with a different set of forms to fill out. This misinformation and the change of tatkal status by the officer shows arbitrary and uninformed actions being carried out at ones discretion.
After writing this post I received a call from a travel bureau whom I had contacted mentioning this is the case with many people who have approached him. There is an air of arbitrariness in the actions of the officers of the passport offices. A simple thing like enquiry has become a bureaucratic hurdle. I have asked for contact details of these people from the agent so I can establish a case.
idontspam - 28 June, 2010 - 02:52
They (TCS) have let everyone down, including themselves. On an average, under the earlier system, the Passport Office at Koramangala could easily process 300 applications a day. That figure has now come down to 160.
They are likely to get the boot
Public Agenda - 28 June, 2010 - 06:58
I got my reissue passport work done on 1st May (National Holiday) at the RPO after getting online token etc no crowd at all
Well if it is any consolation the TCS is getting the boot as we all know after numerous delays and farce of extending timedeadlines. The software glitch is what got the goat
TCS may get the boot for passport glitches
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