No public dealing at regional passport office on Wednesday

Mohit Khanna

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, October 13

There will be no public dealing at the regional passport office on Wednesday. All helplines will also remain closed.

Regional Passport Officer (RPO) Sibash Kabiraj said the decision had been taken following a spurt in the number of applications.

The department has also cut down the time of receiving applications from 9.30 am to 2.30 pm. “We are receiving a huge number of applications everyday. Since there is a shortage of staff, we have decided to stop public dealing on Wednesday for a while. On this day, our entire staff will verify documents. Even the enquiry helplines will remain closed on Wednesday and the attendants will clear the backlog of complaints,” said RPO Kabiraj.

He said the decision had been taken to fast track the processing of passports with the given resources.

He admitted that the no passport application was received after 2.30 pm. “After all, the employees also need some time to verify documents. If they will continue to receive applications till 2.30 pm, when will check documents,” said RPO Kabiraj.

On the other hand, the move left people red-faced. They said the department should be little flexible and consider problems of people belonging to far-away places.

“I had come all the way from Bathinda for submitting my application. As the Ludhiana- Chandigarh highway has been dug up for expansion, I got late and reached at 3 pm. The security guards deployed at the office gate did not let me enter and told me to visit tomorrow. Today is Friday and the office will remain closed for next two days. So, I will have to go through the ordeal once again on Monday,” said Neeraj Kumar.

Passport Sewa Kendras (PSKs), operating under the regional passport office of Chandigarh, serve applicants from 13 districts of Haryana and 12 of Punjab, apart from those from Chandigarh.

A senior officer, requesting anonymity, said, “Earlier 500-600 applicants would turn up at our PSKs. But nowadays, the figure has touched 1,400 per day.”