Close to 30,000 passport applications are pending with
the passport office for want of police clearance. Delay in police
verification is a major factor leading to pendency in issue of
passports, Regional Passport Officer (RPO) K. Srikar Reddy said here on
Thursday.
Participating in an interactive meeting
organised by Federation of Andhra Pradesh Chambers of Commerce and
Industry (FAPCCI), he said police units in Krishna, Karimnagar, and
Anantapur districts and Cyberabad commissionerate were completing the
verification process within the stipulated time of three weeks. “We hope
the policemen in other districts would also complete the process in
three weeks and enable us to issue passports at the earliest,” he said.
The
RPO had a meeting with the Intelligence Department chief on the issue
and the latter had asked all the Superintendents of Police to expedite
the process. Following these instructions, more than 30,000 applications
were cleared, but pendency still stood at 30,000 more applications, he
added. Another reason for the delay in issue was furnishing of
incomplete details in the applications. “We have also sent letters to
them seeking more details,” he said.
Proposals were
also sent to the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) to accept Aadhaar
cards as identity and residence proof. “It is in final stages of
approval,” he said. In case pages in a passport get exhausted, passport
holders can apply for another passport by submitting proof of urgency
and get the passport on the same day. They can also apply under Tatkal
scheme to get the passport within three days.
Mr.
Reddy said that senior citizens could directly walk into any nearby
Passport Seva Kendra from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. to get passport instead of
booking the slot online.
Source : The Hindu
0 comments:
Post a Comment