TNN | Jun 10, 2013
KOLKATA: The Passport Seva Kendra (PSK) may have put into use the best of technology, but when it comes to delivering prompt service to the applicants, not much has changed since the days when paper forms had to be submitted at the passport office and the entire process was carried out manually.
Once the summer vacation sets in, the demand for passports suddenly surges by leaps and bounds. For majority of applicants, it's a futile wait for months before falling prey to touts. Getting an online appointment is the first and the most difficult step while applying for a passport. In Kolkata, the online appointment window opens at 3.30pm and closes in two minutes.
Take for example the trouble that IT professional Kirtiman Biswas went through. He tried for a whole week but couldn't book a slot. "I submitted my application online on May 19 and tried to book an appointment. For the first few days, the system would get stuck after I filled in the Captcha code and clicked the 'submit' button. By the time it recovered, all slots would be filled up. It was frustrating. I cannot spare so many days for booking an appointment," the 25-year-old said.
One day, he had almost booked an appointment when the system logged him out. "When I logged back in, a message flashed that 950 appointments had been booked and the process was over for the day. It was only 3.32 pm," he said. Biswas finally managed to book an appointment on the seventh day and visited the Passport Seva Kendra (PSK). It didn't work out for him, though, as the officials asked him for more documents and turned him away.
Finally, Biswas approached one of the agents. After waiting for months, he finally got the passport just before his scheduled trip to abroad. But not all are as lucky as Biswas.
There is huge pressure on the regional passport office (RPO) for walk-in appointment, which can only be approved by the RPO or the deputy RPO. But even there, the authority cannot approve applicants beyond a number. The situation goes out of hand as 30-40% people who book appointments don't turn up eventually. The passport authority, therefore, is introducing paid-appointment booking. The State Bank of India will set up and manage the payment gateway, the regional passport office sources said. "With this, we hope, only genuine appointment-seekers will use the system," he added.
"Shortage of staff is our big problem. It is leading to over-burdening of employees. Fraudulent cases will also have to be eliminated. The situation will ease when mini-PSKs are set up in Siliguri, Kharagpur and Agartala. Each office can then process 200-250 applications daily, freeing up nearly 800-1,000 slots in Kolkata," regional passport officer R Shivkumar said.
It is not that the passport authority is unaware of the tout-network playing havoc with online appointment system. Recently, the passport seva issued a notice asking the applicants to desist from dealing with touts / agents who may be charging exorbitantly for their service and further, may be making false promises on arranging urgent appointment or faster passport service delivery. "The government has not authorized any intermediary representative to undertake such activity or to give such assurances. Such incidents of harassment / influence by them may be reported to the passport office," said another officer.
KOLKATA: The Passport Seva Kendra (PSK) may have put into use the best of technology, but when it comes to delivering prompt service to the applicants, not much has changed since the days when paper forms had to be submitted at the passport office and the entire process was carried out manually.
Once the summer vacation sets in, the demand for passports suddenly surges by leaps and bounds. For majority of applicants, it's a futile wait for months before falling prey to touts. Getting an online appointment is the first and the most difficult step while applying for a passport. In Kolkata, the online appointment window opens at 3.30pm and closes in two minutes.
Take for example the trouble that IT professional Kirtiman Biswas went through. He tried for a whole week but couldn't book a slot. "I submitted my application online on May 19 and tried to book an appointment. For the first few days, the system would get stuck after I filled in the Captcha code and clicked the 'submit' button. By the time it recovered, all slots would be filled up. It was frustrating. I cannot spare so many days for booking an appointment," the 25-year-old said.
One day, he had almost booked an appointment when the system logged him out. "When I logged back in, a message flashed that 950 appointments had been booked and the process was over for the day. It was only 3.32 pm," he said. Biswas finally managed to book an appointment on the seventh day and visited the Passport Seva Kendra (PSK). It didn't work out for him, though, as the officials asked him for more documents and turned him away.
Finally, Biswas approached one of the agents. After waiting for months, he finally got the passport just before his scheduled trip to abroad. But not all are as lucky as Biswas.
There is huge pressure on the regional passport office (RPO) for walk-in appointment, which can only be approved by the RPO or the deputy RPO. But even there, the authority cannot approve applicants beyond a number. The situation goes out of hand as 30-40% people who book appointments don't turn up eventually. The passport authority, therefore, is introducing paid-appointment booking. The State Bank of India will set up and manage the payment gateway, the regional passport office sources said. "With this, we hope, only genuine appointment-seekers will use the system," he added.
"Shortage of staff is our big problem. It is leading to over-burdening of employees. Fraudulent cases will also have to be eliminated. The situation will ease when mini-PSKs are set up in Siliguri, Kharagpur and Agartala. Each office can then process 200-250 applications daily, freeing up nearly 800-1,000 slots in Kolkata," regional passport officer R Shivkumar said.
It is not that the passport authority is unaware of the tout-network playing havoc with online appointment system. Recently, the passport seva issued a notice asking the applicants to desist from dealing with touts / agents who may be charging exorbitantly for their service and further, may be making false promises on arranging urgent appointment or faster passport service delivery. "The government has not authorized any intermediary representative to undertake such activity or to give such assurances. Such incidents of harassment / influence by them may be reported to the passport office," said another officer.
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