RPOs to DPOs

Decentralisation holds key to faster service

There are at least three reasons why the external affairs ministry’s recent directive to states — to set up district passport offices by January 1, 2002 — ought to be welcomed. One, India’s regional passport offices nurse a backlog in excess of 1.54 lakh applications. Two, periodic efforts aimed at a speedy clearance of this backlog leave much to be desired. Three, increasing staff at regional offices could turn out to be counter-productive. Thus, the most sensible option is that of decentralising the system. These district-level offices are to be manned by district magistrates or superintendents of police. The MEA has rightly adopted a flexible approach in certain cases whereby state governments can decide upon the composition of the new setup themselves. Presently, the entire workload is apportioned among 28 RPOs across the country and some 160 embassies abroad. With the new directive, 593 district passport offices are expected to dot the landscape. By allowing passport offices to thus proliferate, prospective applicants can expect to cut down on their travel and other incidental expenses as well as the waiting-period involved.

RPOs are beginning to modernise, with several of them going online and their websites imparting relevant information on the process of acquiring a passport, including the status of one’s application. But with internet penetration being poor, a vast majority of applicants have been unable to take advantage of this facility. The backlog has inter-state variations with Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Tamilnadu, Punjab and Jammu & Kashmir accounting for the bulk of it, while for others — for example, the north-eastern states — it runs in to two digits. This suggests a need for appropriate flexibility. There should be no need for a local passport office in each and every district of such regions, or where the number of passport seekers has been low historically. Let the states decide upon a case-to-case basis rather than asking them to flatly adhere to the ‘one passport office for every one district’ norm. With the number of passport applicants expected to only rise in the future, decentralisation of the system is a must. Much will, however, depend on how effectively the government gets the districts networked so that fictitious and/or shady applications do not pass muster.