The state's first post office passport seva kendra in Jamshedpur has become an epitome of efficiency.
Of the 11,000 applications received since the kiosk opened at Bistupur GPO in March, more than 10,000 passports have been issued till date.
The passport seva kendra, which initially had 55 daily slots with an appointment cycle of 15 days, has also increased its slots to 125, with applicants getting an appointment the very next day.
Bhaskar Seal, assistant passport officer at the Regional Passport Office in Ranchi, said the slots were first increased to 100 in May following overwhelming response since March 19, when the facility debuted at the steel city's head post office. "In July, the number of daily appointments was further raised to 125. Issuing over 10,000 passports in five months is impressive," Seal added.
Insiders at the Bistupur kiosk offered a break-up of their enormous success. In March-April, around 2,000 passports were issued, they said, adding that in May-June, the figure was more than 6,000. Then, in July-August (so far), another 2,000 passports were issued.
An official at the Bistupur kiosk said the external affairs ministry had announced a 10 per cent reduction in passport fee for applicants under eight years and those over 60. "After the announcement was made in June, the number of applications from senior citizens has witnessed a rise here," he added.
Incidentally, Jamshedpur had no passport office before the post office centre was opened. The regional office in Ranchi conducted camps to help local applicants. That prolonged wait for infrequent camps over, passport seekers are happy.
"After getting an online appointment earlier this month (August), I went to the centre for mandatory verification of documents. The police verification took another week. And, I got my passport a couple of days ago," said Sweta Chatterjee, a student of Jamshedpur Women's College.
Officials boasted that the post office centre was issuing passports within 15 to 18 days. Applicants couldn't agree more.
Ashok Singh, a former employee of Tata Steel, said the kiosk was a boon for senior citizens like him who no longer needed to visit Ranchi for verification of documents.
"I required a passport to travel to Singapore where my son lives. I went to the Bistupur GPO and my papers were verified in 30 minutes flat. Even better, my passport was issued within a fortnight after that," Singh said, recalling how his son had to shuttle between the state capital and the steel city for a passport before he relocated to South East Asia. "It had taken them (regional office) more than a month to issue my son's passport."
