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Awaiting passport

I applied for re-issue of my passport online on December 27 under file No. H022756 at the Regional Passport Office, Delhi. As per the widely publicised keynote address by the External Affair Minister in Chennai on December 22, no police verification is required for re-issue of passport. But the website of R.P.O. Delhi shows the status of my application as having been referred to the police. As per original rules, re-issue of a passport within three years of its expiry does not attract police verification in any case. Since mine expired on July 14, 2004, it should be re-issued within 14 days of my application.

After having seen my "status" I contacted the R.P.O's office on December 29 on telephone No. 26166292. I was asked a rather silly question by a lady at the other end of the line: "Why are you afraid of police verification?"

It was explained to her that I was not afraid of any verification whatsoever, but was just invoking my right as per the Minister's statement reported extensively in the print media.

A further silly question was put forward by the lady for not having provided my previous passport number in the space required for online registration.

I explained to her that I was given a choice to state my file or passport number and I chose to indicate my file number, but a photocopy of the previous passport was attached with the application and one only needs to look for the number and all other details. Incidentally, my previous passport was also issued by the R.P.O. Delhi. The lady probably was not happy with my explanation and hung up on me abruptly.

I thought I would wait for the next update for online status; perhaps some miracle may happen and the lady would consider my explanation compassionately and also give due regard to my senior citizenship and let me enjoy for once the benefits of liberalisation and the great regard which the Minister stressed in his statement in Chennai for the citizenry of our nation. But it was not to be. The update on January 2 remains as previously shown.

Interestingly, telephone number 26187075 so prominently displayed on every receipt is perennially un-attended and the number mentioned above (26166292) is continuously engaged during working hours.

I wonder how long it will take for my passport to arrive.

Surjit Singh Kohli,

C-1791 Sushant Lok I,

Gurgaon - 122 002.

Delhi to Shimla

Apropos Mandira Nayar's report "From Delhi to Shimla" (January 5) about Dr. Anil Wilson leaving St. Stephen's College (which he joined as Principal on January 5, 1991) to become Vice-Chancellor of Himachal Pradesh University, the really important thing now is for the Supreme Council of the College to meet quickly and select a Stephanian successor who can run the institution successfully, taking along all the stakeholders -- the teachers, the students, and the non-teaching staff.

After all, St. Stephen's, founded by the Cambridge Brotherhood in 1881 in Delhi's Chandni Chowk with just five students, now has 1,100 students (about 50 per cent of them women) and 70 faculty (about 30 per cent women) on its scenic North Delhi campus, next to the Delhi University Vice-Chancellor's Office. It is a minority institution under Article 30(1) of the Indian Constitution, and the Principal and Vice-Principal have necessarily to be Christians.

One hopes the Church of North India, which runs the College through the Bishop of Delhi, will choose wisely, so that the glory of the college is enhanced manifold. A good institution can, perhaps, even run on auto-pilot but a college needs to be run collegially to rise to its original intellectual legacy.

Vinod Chowdhury,

Senior Reader in Economics,

St. Stephen's College,

Delhi University,

Delhi - 110 007.

Calling UGC

I would like to draw the attention of the University Grants Commission (UGC) authorities to errors in the National Eligibility Test (NET) conducted for JRF and lectureship on December 17. In paper No. 2 of Political Science (Subject Code-2), Question No. 3 asked us to match the list of great political scientists with their books. The correct answer was: Aristotle -- The Politics; Machiavelli -- The Prince; J.S. Mill -- On Liberty; Rousseau -- The Social Contract. Unfortunately in the multiple type question, no correct choice was given for it.

I would like to protest at this grave error. In a world which is waking up to the crude realities of cut-throat competition, not attempting a question carrying two marks does make a difference to one's prospects of clearing this entrance examination.

The authorities are requested to look into this negligence or printing error and give due thought to the need for compensating us for the loss of marks caused due to their folly.

Amna Mirza,

M.A. Political Science,

Hindu College,

University of Delhi,

Delhi - 110 007.

High and dry

I joined the "Wealth Creation Scheme" of Religare Securities Limited, a subsidiary of the famous Ranbuxy, on May 25 last year, my Client ID being 10459417 and Trading Code BK-786. To begin with, I was given the impression that my account would be handled by the nearby Nehru Place (New Delhi) branch, but actually it was handed over to the Gurgaon (Haryana) branch. However, since I was not satisfied with the performance of this branch I sent a written request to the Gurgaon branch on November 29 to transfer my account to the Nehru Place branch. Even after more than a month nothing has been done.

Meanwhile, my investment with the company is lying idle. The last contract note from them is dated November 29. Repeated telephone calls to both branches have failed to elicit any satisfactory response, one branch asking me to get in touch with the other, and vice-versa, repeatedly.

Badiuddin Khan,

115/Pocket-B, SFS Flats,

Sukhdev Vihar,

New Delhi - 110 025.

Hello, MTNL....

I booked an MTNL broadband Internet connection over telephone. Accordingly, the staff of MTNL, Inderpuri Telephone Exchange, visited my residence and installed the modem on December 28, 2006. Two days later they again visited my residence to provide connectivity. But so far, despite the installation of the modem, there is no broadband connectivity.

The matter is being pursued continuously with Vijay Kumar, J.T.O., Telephone Exchange, Inderpuri. It was again brought to the notice of Mr. Tyagi, S.D.O., and Mr. Rattan Lal, D.E.T. However, there is no progress.

There is a wide gap between the publicity being given to the broadband Internet connectivity by MTNL and the service actually being provided to the customers. I look forward to some positive action now.

K.P. Wasnik,

WZ-276, 2nd Floor,

Near Park, Inderpuri,

New Delhi.

(Letters for this column may be sent by e-mail to wsins@thehindu.co.in. They must carry the full postal address of the writer and should be marked "Reader's Mail".)

C-1791 Sushant Lok I,

Gurgaon - 122 002.

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