In the line of fire for being a hotbed of corruption and delay, the Passport Office emerges as the icon for efficiency and customer satisfaction
For a change, this does not look like your normal governmentoffice.
There are no dusty files, betel leaves stained walls,smelling toilets and long queues.
“When I first made my passport this was a sweaty, packedplace with people and agents jostling with each other. But when I went to makemy son’s passport, the place looked no different from a US or UK Embassy Visacentre,” said Bruno Vaz from a coastal village in Salcette, as he waited forhis turn at the swanky new Passport Seva Kendra, the new look Passport Officeof Ministry of External Affairs in Goa.
One of the most controversial departments till recently,Goa’s lone Passport Office at Patto has witnessed a sea change from its days ofbeing a seedy dusty office teeming with touts, pickpockets and haplessapplicants.
A very diplomatic Krishan Kumar attributes “change” to thetransformation of the passport office to the new customer friendly one stopshop.
“The change into Passport Kendra had to go hand in hand withclearing of application. Even we were migrating to a biometrics based smartflowsystems designed by TCS, which would digitize all operations and make it moretransparent and clear. Change always causes hardships for people who have to bearound during the changeover process,” explains Kumar.
But while the change has made the system seamless andfaster, allegations abound that there exists a nexus between Passport Officersand agents that gather in the parking space and the street outside the PassportOffice. “We have done away with the system of agents since March 5 this yearand anybody who is taking their help are doing at their own risk,” PassportOfficer warns.
In the past over a dozen travel agents in Goa were empoweredto accept applications but all that has changed. “Now you have to file your ownapplication online, come with the documents personally, get your biometricsdone and your passport will be in your hands in 36 hours,” Kumar promises. Theonly disclaimer being that Goa Police does your verification (which may delaythe process).
In probably the most benchmark-able operations of its kindin the State, the new crop of professionals manning the passport Kendra are notjust courteous and informative but ensure a record turnaround time.
“We have a capacity to handle appointments for 150 onlineapplications per day and end up handling more than that,” confirms MathewMarchon, IT Manager from TCS handling the digital operations.
For Goa’s lone passport Kendra, the turnaround has beenworth the wait from its seedy and suspect old avatar.
