Kerala   

Passports issued in 45 days

MALAPPURAM: The Malappuram Passport Office has crossed a landmark by issuing passports on fresh applications in 45 days. In cases where police verification is not needed, passports are issued in two weeks.

The office achieved the 45-day delivery target in spite of severe staff shortage. Passport Officer Muraleedharan K said here on Tuesday that he and his team would strive to issue passports in a month.

He said there was no addition to the staff strength of five officers and 42 assistants. The sanctioned strength of the Malappuram passport office was 14 officers and 59 staff members. Union Minister of State for External Affairs E. Ahamed had, on June 18, assured to address the staff shortage soon, but nothing had happened since.

Mr. Muraleedharan said that all applications received till August 31, wherein police verification certificates were received, had been cleared for issue of passports.

He said no tahsildar in the district had so far been authorised to verify passport applicants. Mr. Ahamed, while inaugurating the website of the Malappuram passport office in June, had said that tahsildars and sub-inspectors would be empowered for passport verification.

Mr. Muraleedharan said that tahsildars should first be authorised by the District Collector and the specimen signatures of tahsildars should be made available at the passport office for cross-reference.

With tahsildars getting frequently transferred, it was not easy to arrange a system where they could verify passport applicants, he said.

He said the passport office issued 1.16 lakh passports this year, clearing a major chunk of pending applications. A record number of 21,087 passports were issued in August.

In January, the office issued 8,832 passports against 11,224 applications. In February, the figure stood at 7,522 against 12,445 applications. In March, 11,611 passports were issued against 14,146 applications. In April, 7,881 passports were issued against 11,573 applications.

The number of passports issued in May stood at 9,477 against 11,824 applications. The number of passports issued the next month more than doubled to 19,409 against 10,619 applications.

In July, as many as 14,351 passports were issued against 10,669 applications. In August, passports issued touched an all-time high of 21,087 against 10,203 applications.

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

Stories in this Section

Missing victims of mob violence found
Of political intrigues Film Review
Clampdown on helmetless riders
Vayali to Japan
No surprises
Love flows, like water
One State, one Minister
Teaching children to love learning
Consumed by change
Stage set for In Flore
T.V. Chandran’s new film
peoplespeak
Rare opportunity
Gathering of youth
Crossing swords
Students’ mission to revive the Suvarna river
Six lorries seized in city
Kasaragod bus strike called off
Telephone adalat
Passports issued in 45 days
A rare treat
Set to grow
Getting all misty eyed
Beyond the reach
Different campaign

Copyright © 2007, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu