Minors and senior citizens will soon be saved the trouble of applying online or standing in long queues at the Regional Passport Offices (RPO). Instead, they can head to the nearest BangaloreOne centres and submit their passport applications along with documents and other details, and instantly obtain the application reference number (ARN) for `25.
Madana Kumar Reddy, in-charge passport officer at the Bangalore RPO, said the new measure will be implemented after a tie-up with the Department of e-Governance. It is an effort to weed out touts and facilitate an easier application process, he said.
The RPO portal says walk-in applicants have to register online, fill the application form and generate an application reference number at least one day in advance before visiting the Passport Seva Kendra (PSK).
“Such applicants may visit the PSK with a required set of documents and a copy of ARN between 9.30 and 11 am,” the portal says.
Addressing reporters on Tuesday, Reddy said now, minors and senior citizens need not take prior appointments. “The project will streamline the work at these centres and also help weed out unauthorised agents and touts who have commercialised the whole process,” Reddy said.
“These applicants can save a lot of money if they directly go to BangaloreOne centres.” He added that the project would be rolled out in 10 days.
The four Passport Seva Kendras in the state collectively release between 1,500 and 1,700 appointments in a day.
“Of these, 30-40 per cent are walk-in applicants,” Reddy said. Further, applicants with ARN can go to any PSK for a follow-up.
The service will be made available to walk-in applicants belonging to the nine categories defined by the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA).
The e-Seva portal lists these categories as those with police clearance certificates (PCCs), differently-abled applicants, applicants who want deletion of ECR status in their passports, senior citizens, minor applicants below 15 years of age.
CCTVs to Monitor Officials
Cracking the whip on erring officials, the RPO will soon link all the PSKs with CCTV surveillance and with the passport back office.
The CCTV cameras that are operational in PSKs will be linked to the RPOs back office, where a team will monitor the work. “We are stressing on the entry and exit points where such malpractices occur,” he said.
Reddy added that the department has been receiving a lot of complaints about officials misusing their power by issuing fake verification certificates.
“The CCTV monitoring system will deter officials from misusing power,” said Reddy. Also, webcams will be installed so that grievances from applicants in PSKs can be addressed by the passport officers.
The state currently has four PSKs - two in Bangalore and one each in Mangalore and Hubli.