The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Chennai News : Issue of passport on the fast track

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Saturday, Feb 26, 2005

Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu - Chennai

Issue of passport on the fast track

P. Oppili and Karthik Subramanian

Issue of passports is on the fast track these days, thanks to the setting up of three centres in the South, Central and North Chennai police stations.

The centres have been opened with the objective of clearing passport applications fast, reducing the time spent by applicants and minimising paperwork, say police officers.

In June last year, the External Affairs Ministry asked the State Governments to open passport centres in each district. Three centres were opened in police stations at Adyar, Anna Nagar and Flower Bazaar. The offices are located on the same premises where the Deputy Commissioner's Office is functioning.

Unlike the regular passport office, which works between 10 a.m. and 5 p.m., the centres are open from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. on all 365 days, says C. Sylendra Babu, Joint Commissioner of Police, North, who is in-charge of the centres. Highly qualified women constables, trained in communication and people-friendly attitude, have been selected to man them.

Each centre has a receptionist, a computer operator and two women constables. The receptionist and the computer operator have been provided training in human relations, communication skills and filling applications, verifying documents and drawing cheques. Soon after receiving a duly filled-in application, it is sent to the Intelligence section for verification. From there, the applications are directly sent to the passport office. Unnecessary procedures have been cut down and there are no serpentine queues to meet officials.

Since its inception in December last, the centres have processed more than 1,400 applications. While Flower Bazaar tops the list with about 725 applications, Anna Nagar received 415 applications. About 200 applications have been received and processed by the Adyar police station, he says.

The district passport office at the Anna Nagar police station, according to the Deputy Commissioner, A. Arun, has helped the police build bridges with the local community. "Public generally hesitate to come to police stations. But with the passport office coming up here, several women and children visit us and there is no fear."

On the flip side, police officials have been flooded with requests for `pre-verification' certificates, needed under the tatkal scheme. "We do not encourage pre-verification procedures. At the district passport office, we feel that the time for processing passports in the regular stream could be drastically reduced. No application stays with us for more than 10 days without being verified," says Mr. Arun.

What if an applicant faces a problem in the centres? "An applicant facing any problem, can approach the Deputy Commissioner's office, in whose premises the centre is located," says Mr. Sylendra Babu.

The phone numbers of the centres are: Adyar: 23452589; Anna Nagar: 23452443 and Flower Bazaar: 23452455.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Tamil Nadu

News Update

Stories in this Section

Take up projects announced earlier: Opposition

Feeder operators levy congestion surcharge on containers

School students get useful tips on career planning

Avadi Municipality allocates more funds for development

Technology not a solution to our problems: Seshan

Burglar caught, stolen property recovered

Issue of passport on the fast track