Hyderabad: On the request of the Press Club of Hyderabad, a special “Passport Mela” for journalists was inaugurated by Dr Vishnu Vardhan Reddy, IFS, Regional Passport Officer, Hyderabad today, at Passport Seva Kendra (PSK), Begumpet. On the occasion, some 600 applications of journalists and their family members were successfully processed at the Mela.
Passport Seva Project of the Ministry of External Affairs has been setting new benchmarks in public service delivery, extending passport services to Indian citizens in a timely, transparent and user friendly manner. Regional Passport Office, Hyderabad has been conducting exclusive “Passport Melas” on weekends for the convenience of government employees and other professionals. Today’s exclusive Passport Mela for Journalists was part of this exercise.
In terms of overall performance, both the Telugu States are leading in the country in quickest delivery of passports. AP and Telangana stood 1st and 2nd respectively in the last financial year for the shortest time taken for passport police verification — three days (AP) and 4 days (TS). In 2018, some 5,20,800 Passports were issued by RPO Hyderabad and in the first since months of 2019, some 2,69,541 Passports were issued. The pendency at RPO Hyderabad is one the least in the country and most of them are due to lack of sufficient documentation from the applicants side.
To further improve access and take passport services to the doorsteps of citizens, 14 new Post Office Passport Seva Kendras were successfully inaugurated in Telangana in the last two and half years. The response to POPSKs has been very positive with close to one lakh applicants benefiting from them till date.
Caution against Fake Websites: A large number of complaints have been pouring in from the applicants against fake websites. Passport Office has taken to social media to caution applicants against such look alike websites ending with .com, .in, .org that are cheating public by collecting their private information and charging high service fees. While the application fees for ordinary passport is Rs 1500 these fake websites are charging between 4000 to 5000 rupees. Many educated people are falling prey to these websites and only realize when they present themselves at the Passport Seva Kendras with wrong appointments.
Applicants must check the domain name and website particulars carefully before filing their applications. The ONLY authorized website to apply for passports is through the Ministry’s official website www.passportindia.gov.
NRI Marraiges: Complaints on NRI Grooms has also increased manifold in the recent months. The Ministry of External Affairs has set up a special cell and is closely coordinating with Ministry of Women and Child and other authorities in addressing cases of women abandoned by NRI husbands. Showcause notices are being immediately issued when such complaints are received and where Police or the courts issue Non-Bailable warrants or Look Out circulars, immediate suspension of passport facilities have also been done. While in 2018 there were 118 cases such cases, this year till date we have received around 78 complaints related to NRI marriages.
Foreign Nationals: Cases of illegal migrants from Myanmar, Bangaladesh, Nepal etc who have settled in the city and applying for passport by producing valid Aadhar cards/Birth certificates/School certificates is unfortunately on the rise.
RPO Hyderabad is closely coordinating with both central and state agencies to take immediate action against such cases. In the last two years, 93 such passports have been revoked. Extra care is being taken while scrutinizing passport applications wherever there is a doubt of the Nationality of applicants.
Press Club Hyderabad President S.Vijay Kumar Reddy, General Secretary B.Rajamouli Chary, Vice President Venugopala Naidu & Rehaba Begum, Joint secretary Chilukuri hariprasad,members Katta kavitha,Rajinikanth veeragoni,Nandyala Bhupal reddy participated. (NSS)
