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Delay in Passport Issuance: Data for Last three years and corrective steps taken/proposed

STATEMENT REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO PARTS (a) TO (e) OF THE LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO. 518 REGARDING ` DELAY IN PASSPORT ISSUANCE` FOR ANSWER ON 13.08.2014

(a) & (b) Yes, Madam. Though the time taken for issue of passports has been progressively reduced in recent years, the Government is also aware that in some cases, there is delay in issuance of passports. The details of passport service applications received during the years 2011, 2012 and 2013 and the period January – June, 2014 and the pendency are enclosed (Annexure I, II, III & IV). The passports are issued Passport Office-wise and the data is compiled accordingly.
The process for Passport issuance sometimes becomes longer due to:
(i) late receipt of police verification reports beyond the stipulated time of 21 days;
(ii) receipt of incomplete police reports;
(iii) increase in demand for passport to the tune of 15% in a year; and
(iv) shortage of manpower in the Central Passport Organization, to deal with the increasing demand for passport services.

(c) There was a temporary shortage of passport booklets which created some backlog in issuance of passports. This was because ISP Nashik, which is the sole supplier of passport booklets to all Passport Offices in India and abroad, had stopped production of booklets twice (Dec 2013-Feb 2014 and April 2014-mid June 2014) due to shortage of a raw material imported from abroad. Due to prompt measures taken by the Government, ISP Nashik has now started regular supplies of passport booklets to Passport Offices. As on 11 August 2014, all Passport Offices have adequate stock of passport booklets. Further, the Government has also increased the annual indent for blank passport booklets for the year 2014-15 to 20 million in order to create a strategic reserve of 10 million booklets to meet any future exigency (Annexure-V).
(d) The quality of passport booklets has been engaging the attention of the Ministry though there is no deterioration. The matter has been taken up with the ISP Nashik and its controlling organizations, viz. the Security Printing & Minting Corporation of India Limited (SPMCIL) and the Department of Economic Affairs, Ministry of Finance for improving the quality of the passport booklets.
(e) As regards delay in passport issuance, the Government has taken several corrective steps. As police verification of personal particulars and antecedents of applicants is critical to Passport issuance, Passport Offices keep in touch with Police to expedite Police Verification reports. Passport Offices conduct Passport Melas at PSKs on weekends from time to time for meeting high demand of passports. Passport Adalats, on need basis, are also conducted by Passport Offices to redress passport service grievances by dealing with citizens directly. Inspections of PSKs and Passport Offices are conducted from time to time to improve service delivery. Steps have also been taken to fill up the existing vacancies by recruitment through the Staff Selection Commission, fast-track promotion and deputation, wherever applicable. The Government has recently invited applications from suitable candidates to fill up the vacant posts through deputation at the level of Passport Officer, Deputy Passport Officer and Assistant Passport Officer. An indent to fill up vacant posts of Lower Division Clerk has already been placed with the Staff Selection Commission. Pending filling up of vacancies on regular basis, the Ministry has engaged up to 450 Data Entry Operators in the Passport Offices against vacant non-gazetted posts.
Annexure -I

Passport Issuance Data 2011

Passport Office No. of passport applications received No. of services rendered Applications under processing and carried forward to next year as on 31-12-11
Ahmedabad 338087 330718 7369
Amritsar 97339 100589 *
Bangalore 379681 393861 *
Bareilly 86023 74290 11733
Bhopal 103621 100727 2894
Bhubaneswar 61578 56405 5173
Chandigarh 270786 272597 *
Chennai 269835 278161 *
Cochin 278341 275726 2615
Coimbatore 83306 86214 *
Dehradun 57875 57634 241
Delhi 372442 357192 15250
Ghaziabad 154312 138118 16194
Guwahati 68744 58946 9798
Hyderabad 475808 492666 *
Jaipur 223013 214605 8408
Jalandhar 156988 136550 20438
Jammu 24847 26638 *
Kolkata 338595 280226 58369
Kozhikode 214887 216815 *
Lucknow 392088 380832 11256
Madurai 146104 123336 22768
Malappuram 187191 179931 7260
Mumbai 351496 337297 14199
Nagpur 93474 90066 3408
Panaji 41501 39781 1720
Patna 184754 185165 *
Pune 161546 146583 14963
Raipur 34868 33692 1176
Ranchi 57549 52221 5328
Shimla 29994 28279 1715
Srinagar 64423 43526 20897
Surat 109888 108091 1797
Thane 215383 209043 6340
Trichy 134890 128710 6180
Trivandrum 163231 163977 *
Visakhapatnam 127337 105208 22129
Total 65,51,825 63,04,416 2,99,618

*The passport issuance being a cyclical process, the excess in col. 3 is due to clearance of arrears.

Annexure -II

Passport Issuance Data 2012

Passport Office No. of passport applications received No. of services rendered Applications under processing and carried forward to next year as on 31-12-12
Ahmedabad 3,39,997 3,23,414 16,583
Amritsar 83,774 80,616 3,158
Bangalore 4,19,469 4,11,804 7,665
Bareilly 76,201 73,882 2,319
Bhopal 1,07,078 1,10,374 *
Bhubaneswar 31,718 74,363 *
Chandigarh 2,87,021 2,96,420 *
Chennai 3,40,594 3,30,324 10,270
Cochin 3,67,984 2,79,708 88,276
Coimbatore 83,430 79,806 3,624
Dehradun 56,588 52,931 3,657
Delhi 3,24,918 2,71,252 53,666
Ghaziabad 1,18,638 1,23,200 *
Guwahati 62,204 54,426 7,778
Hyderabad 5,72,856 5,49,759 23,097
Jaipur 1,97,521 2,04,495 *
Jalandhar 1,40,952 1,53,657 *
Jammu 26,352 25,666 686
Kolkata 2,90,842 2,42,348 48,494
Kozhikode 2,43,424 2,38,561 4,863
Lucknow 3,80,765 3,27,921 52,844
Madurai 1,84,826 1,69,053 15,773
Malappuram 2,02,754 2,03,935 *
Mumbai 3,32,727 2,85,027 47,700
Nagpur 88,574 93,528 *
Panaji 33,107 25,126 7,981
Patna 1,58,420 1,47,006 11,414
Pune 1,49,027 1,50,909 *
Raipur 37,851 32,884 4,967
Ranchi 60,465 58,731 1,734
Shimla 26,412 23,896 2,516
Srinagar 57,887 62,436 *
Surat 1,22,711 1,18,404 4,307
Thane 1,97,455 1,34,862 62,593
Trichy 1,50,291 1,37,256 13,035
Trivandrum 1,70,165 1,43,550 26,615
Visakhapatnam 1,31,913 1,38,613 *
Total 66,66,911 62,30,143 5,25,615

*The passport issuance being a cyclical process, the excess in Col 3 is due to clearance of arrears.


Annexure – III

Passport Issuance Data 2013

Passport Office No. of passport applications received No. of services rendered Applications under processing and carried forward to next year as on 31-12-13
Ahmedabad 3,37,195 3,31,871 5,324
Amritsar 93,581 92,964 617
Bangalore 4,60,547 4,36,999 23,548
Bareilly 80,430 75,698 4,732
Bhopal 1,11,988 1,02,740 9,248
Bhubaneswar 81,425 81,406 19
Chandigarh 3,07,806 2,94,690 13,116
Chennai 3,73,304 3,67,353 5,951
Cochin 2,87,990 2,87,209 781
Coimbatore 99,586 1,03,312 *
Dehradun 51,458 48,016 3,442
Delhi 4,14,656 4,02,588 12,068
Ghaziabad 1,14,387 1,11,727 2,660
Goa 46,589 48,368 *
Guwahati 63,801 51,816 11,985
Hyderabad 6,37,073 6,30,457 6,616
Jaipur 2,05,905 2,02,331 3,574
Jalandhar 1,80,665 1,83,776 *
Jammu 27,103 26,637 466
Kolkata 3,54,006 3,37,232 16,774
Kozhikode 2,55,448 2,56,125 *
Lucknow 4,47,345 4,21,228 26,117
Madurai 1,98,548 1,95,196 3,352
Malappuram 2,21,207 2,31,907 *
Mumbai 3,43,659 3,48,485 *
Nagpur 81,471 76,571 4,900
Patna 1,87,486 1,69,451 18,035
Pune 1,85,016 1,81,985 3,031
Raipur 30,332 30,453 *
Ranchi 64,517 60,448 4,069
Shimla 30,308 28,270 2,038
Srinagar 65,873 60,034 5,839
Surat 1,25,368 1,31,283 *
Thane 2,11,006 2,01,924 9,082
Trichy 1,75,477 1,68,530 6,947
Trivandrum 1,76,200 1,75,370 830
Visakhapatnam 1,47,763 1,45,241 2,522
TOTAL 72,76,519 70,99,691 2,07,683

*The passport issuance being a cyclical process, the excess in Col.3 is due to clearance of arrears.
Annexure -IV
Passport Issuance Data January – June 2014

Passport Office No. of applications received No. of services rendered Applications under processing and carried forward as on 30-06-14
Ahmedabad 1,98,325 1,74,631 23,694
Amritsar 49,878 46,001 3,877
Bangalore 2,48,162 2,22,585 25,577
Bareilly 46,681 36,387 10,294
Bhopal 58,044 55,800 2,244
Bhubaneswar 47,623 41,957 5,666
Chandigarh 1,72,313 1,59,118 13,195
Chennai 1,85,794 1,54,717 31,077
Cochin 1,61,596 1,43,641 17,955
Coimbatore 51,966 48,241 3,725
Dehradun 31,828 24,995 6,833
Delhi 2,24,290 2,17,966 6,324
Ghaziabad 68,710 59,854 8,856
Goa 23,546 21,496 2,050
Guwahati 28,569 23,634 4,935
Hyderabad 3,48,261 2,90,830 57,431
Jaipur 1,25,601 1,02,880 22,721
Jalandhar 1,18,317 95,816 22,501
Jammu 13,976 15,584 *
Kolkata 2,02,833 1,64,743 38,090
Kozhikode 1,45,237 1,31,674 13,563
Lucknow 2,71,440 2,42,128 29,312
Madurai 1,09,927 96,588 13,339
Malappuram 1,24,506 1,11,878 12,628
Mumbai 1,87,952 1,59,178 28,774
Nagpur 48,877 37,888 10,989
Patna 1,40,883 1,02,125 38,758
Pune 1,09,587 89,171 20,416
Raipur 16,384 16,408 *
Ranchi 32,501 33,125 *
Shimla 16,048 13,173 2,875
Srinagar 33,182 28,775 4,407
Surat 65,484 53,533 11,951
Thane 1,17,403 1,02,310 15,093
Trichy 93,047 83,816 9,231
Trivandrum 1,00,949 90,908 10,041
Visakhapatnam 94,584 77,816 16,768
TOTAL 41,14,304 35,71,370 5,45,190

*The passport issuance being a cyclical process, the excess in Col. 3 is due to clearance of previous arrears.


Annexure ‘V’

No. of passports pending for printing and dispatch as on 11th August 2014

Passport Office
Pendency
Transit
Stock
Total Stock
Ahmedabad
26476
14000
11023
25023
Amritsar
5914
5500
2029
7529
Bangalore
31910
19000
10617
29617
Bareilly
6526
7000
1141
8141
Bhopal
8357
7000
2555
9555
Bhubaneswar
2887
1000
4101
5101
Chandigarh
27611
9000
13424
22424
Chennai
29442
20500
4905
25405
Cochin
24559
4500
13935
18435
Coimbatore
6709
6000
2998
8998
Dehradun
4235
4500
2618
7118
Delhi
12454
22500
8607
31107
Ghaziabad
1221
3000
1031
4031
Goa
804
1000
1000
2000
Guwahati
5653
3000
6581
9581
Hyderabad
49111
41000
11749
52749
Jaipur
12267
11500
7429
18929
Jalandhar
17528
14000
6250
20250
Jammu
0
4000
2803
6803
Kolkata
42331
22000
14093
36093
Kozhikode
15606
9500
5827
15327
Lucknow
42486
37000
16051
53051
Madurai
22011
17000
3399
20399
Malappuram
15330
12500
2548
15048
Mumbai
20501
13000
13979
26979
Nagpur
7425
4500
4300
8800
Patna
18684
12000
8300
20300
Pune
10646
13000
4669
17669
Raipur
187
1000
3378
4378
Ranchi
1204
4000
2609
6609
Shimla
870
1000
2002
3002
Srinagar
205
1500
2550
4050
Surat
2500
3000
5798
8798
Thane
17769
16500
2688
19188
Trichy
22822
20000
6549
26549
Thiruvananthapuram
6487
5000
2741
7741
Visakhapatnam
13998
8500
5005
13505
CPPF Delhi
2837
6000
7586
13586
537563
405000
228868
633868

Details of Lok Sabha Starred Question:-

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA
MINISTRY OF EXTERNAL AFFAIRS
LOK SABHA
STARRED QUESTION NO 518
ANSWERED ON 13.08.2014

DELAY IN PASSPORT ISSUANCE
518 . Smt. MAUSAM NOOR
M. K. RAGHAVAN
Will the Minister of EXTERNAL AFFAIRS be pleased to state:-

(a) whether the Government has taken note of delay in issuance of passports and if so, the details thereof;

(b) the number of applications received, passports issued and those pending disposal during each of the last three years and the current year, Passport Seva Kendras (PSK) -wise;

(c) whether there is a shortage of passport booklets creating huge backlog in issuance of passports in various PSKs, if so, the details thereof, PSK-wise and the reasons therefor;

(d) whether alleged deterioration in the quality of passport booklets has been reported if so, the facts thereof and the reasons therefor; and

(e) the corrective steps taken/proposed to be taken by the Government in this regard?

ANSWER

THE MINISTER OF EXTERNAL AFFAIRS (SHRIMATI SUSHMA SWARAJ)

(a) to (e) A statement is laid on the Table of the House.(As above)

Source: http://164.100.47.132/Annexture_New/lsq16/2/as518.htm

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