The state’s new passport officer has decided to put a few checks and balances in place to avoid irregularities in issuing passports.
Addressing reporters here on Wednesday, P S Karthigeyan, who took charge recently, said his top priority was to barricade the passport office to restrict entry of touts.
“I have discussed the matter with the chief passport officer and the former passport officer,” he said.
“After looking into the details, we will have checks in place so that fraudulent agents find it harder to penetrate the process,” he said.
“I understand that a few isolated incidents have happened, but the trend will not continue,” he said.
Karthigeyan said he will visit all Passport Seva Kendras (PSKs) in the state by the end of the week.
If the involvement of passport officers in any fraudulent acts are confirmed, department-level action will be initiated against them, he said.
On a query over revamping of passport systems, wherein appointments were to be generated 21 days earlier in seven-day cycles, instead of three-day and two-day cycles, Karthigeyan said the performance of the system is under evaluation.
“The disadvantage of this method is that appointments get exhausted within two days of releasing them. We are yet to decide whether to continue with this new cycle or not,” he added.
‘PSK In Mysore in the Offing’
Karthigeyan said discussions were on to recommend the opening of a PSK in Mysore too.
“A final decision will be taken by the Ministry of External Affairs. We may recommend the opening of a PSK in Mysore depending on the demand coming from applicants in the region,” he added.