Passport issued in a single day! Sounds unbelievable? The Passport Office here has achieved this distinction by issuing the passport of a one-month-old baby Kundana Pentapati.
The application of baby Kundana was accepted at the Passport Seva Camp organised at Bhimavaram in West Godavari district on Monday (November 16) and her passport (No. M 3641914) was despatched on Tuesday.
“The demand for passport services is on the rise and we have been making arrangements during the last few months to increase the application intake besides conducting passport melas frequently. The Passport Seva Kendra (PSK) at Murali Nagar has been augmented to accept 825 normal passport applications as against 625 applications a day till May 1, this year. The number does not include walk-in category applications,” says Passport Officer N.L.P. Choudary.
“As many as 16 passport melas were conducted during this year and four more are scheduled by December-end. These measures had helped in bringing down the appointment cycle from 42 to 12 working days at the PSK, Visakhapatnam, and we plan to bring it down further to five working days,” he says.
The Passport Office has processed over 1,58,340 applications so far this year. “We have achieved ‘zero’ pendency in passport printing and despatch. The passports are being printed and despatched the same day, provided a clear police report is received. An effective grievance redressal mechanism has been put in place and grievances of the applicants are being attended on a priority basis,” says Mr. Choudary.
Added advantage An added advantage of the present passport camps, unlike in the past, is that applicants’ photograph and signature will be captured and their documents verified at the camp itself and only the processing will be done at the back office in Visakhapatnam, Mr. Choudary adds.
