CHANDIGARH: If figures are an indication, it’d appear Punjabis have kept up their overseas craze. The Regional Passport Office in Chandigarh, which covers most of Punjab as well as Ambala in Haryana, has issued over 8 lakh passports from January to November this year. The count is 80,000 more than the previous year’s in the same period.
The RPO issued 75,423 passports last month alone – the highest in the country in a month, followed by Mumbai and Bangalore RPOs. That also means 2,514 passports per day, making the RPO a top performer in the country. Around 73,000 passports were issued by Mumbai RPO and 72,000 by Bangalore RPO, sources said.
Currently if one applies for an appointment to get a passport, the waiting time on average is 35 days for a regular appointment and for a Tatkaal appointment, it is the very next day.The appointment time has considerably come down: In February, it was 90 days for regular appointments and 30 days under Tatkaal.
The present pendency is of only three days as daily 5,000 appointments for passports and other services are being issued by the RPO, Priyanka Mehtani, Regional Passport Officer of Chandigarh, told this newspaper.