BENGALURU: The Regional Passport Office (RPO) here has created a record by issuing 5.18 lakh passports from January to July, according to data released by RPO.
During the same period in 2023, it issued 3.87 lakh passports, and 3.12 lakh in 2022. Of the 5.18 lakh passports, 14 were issued to transgenders. Besides, various certificates were issued to 18,428 people.
Regional Passport Officer K Krishna said, “The number of people going abroad, especially students, has increased. By this year-end, we would touch an all-time record in issuing passports for a single calendar year.”
The RPO issued 8,49,646 passports in 2023 and is set to exceed this figure this year, he said. Meanwhile, the RPO issued a passport to a woman in a single day to help her go to Germany, where her son is under treatment after a drowning incident.
S Manjula from Mysuru got her passport on Tuesday. Her son Mohan Manjunath, who is studying in Berlin, is in ICU now.
“We received an email from the German Embassy in Berlin, asking us to expedite the passport process for the mother of an Indian student. We accorded it top priority and handed over the passport to the woman on Tuesday,” Krishna said.
The family from Mysuru rushed to Hubballi initially to get the passport as the waiting time was less there. “As soon as we were alerted by the embassy, we contacted the family members and urged them to come to Bengaluru. The woman reached here Tuesday morning and submitted her documents and we issued the passport immediately,” he said.