Renewal of Passports Made Easy

Author: 
Syed Asdar Ali • Arab News
Publication Date: 
Mon, 2004-10-04 03:00

NEW DELHI, 4 October 2004 — The government has streamlined the process of renewal of passports. “For renewal of passports wherein there is no change of address of individuals, police verification has been done away with,” Minister of State for External Affairs E. Ahamed told reporters here yesterday.

For ‘tatkal’ (instant) passports, there are directions for issuance of passports without waiting for a police verification report which can be obtained later, he said. Noting that a number of other modernization plans were also afoot, he said these steps were aimed at clearing a backlog of passport cases.

As of August this year, over 190,000 passport applications were in various regional passport offices across the country awaiting clearance. “Our aim is to clear the backlog within three months, depending of course on how fast police can give their reports,” Ahamed said.

Referring to the recent detection of corruption involving employees of passport offices after a series of arrests, the minister said the government had taken a serious view of such practices. “We have issued strict instructions to passport offices to ensure that touts are removed from these premises,” he said.

Meanwhile, a delegation of 15 Pakistani journalists arrived yesterday in India from across the Wagah border to embark on an unprecedented visit to Indian-controlled Kashmir.

The journalists, representing different news organizations, are members of South Asian Free Media Association (SAFMA) and their week-long visit has been sponsored by a Jammu-based English-language daily.

They will cross over to India from the Wagah border and proceed to Jammu. The journalists will meet Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed, Indian journalists and government officials.

They are also expected to interact with leaders of both factions of the Hurriyat Conference, hard-line separatist leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani and moderates like Abdul Ghani Bhat, Maulvi Abbas Ansari, JKLF Chairman Mohammad Yasin Malik and Democratic Freedom Party chief Shabir Ahmed Shah.

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