Stopping passport services in post office puts citizens to hardship

As a result, the people in Madikeri have to travel to Mangalore, Bangalore or Hubli to avail the passports. 

The Passport Seva Kendras were launched with much fanfare about a year ago to streamline the system and improve its efficiency, appear to have worsened the woes of applicants who are facing a harrowing time. With the setting up of passport seva kendras, the government decided to stop accepting applications in post offices. Earlier, the post offices were selling the application, receiving the applications. After verification they were dispatching them to passport offices.

If one provides complete details along with the documents, police verification were carried out within 15 days and the person used to get passport within two months of submitting the application. However, as per the new rules, a person who wants to get passport should register and submit application by loging in www.passportindia.gov.in and have to go to the passport seva kendra on taking prior appointment with original documents.

With the stopping of receiving applications at post office, people will have to spend money to reach to the passport seva kendra to get passport done.

 On the  other hand, the postal department will not get the revenue which it was receiving for collecting and verifying the applications.

Madikeri head post office was receiving 10 passport applications daily. The people from neighbouring districts were also submitting their applications at the post office in Madikeri.

The post office in Madikeri is distributing the pending passport applications, said an official and added that the applications are likely to be over by this week.

The people in Madikeri has urged the government to restart the passport service through post offices.