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| Hajj pilgrims to get instant passport, no tatkal service in J&K despite 100 daily applications | | | Early Times Report
Jammu, July 7: At a place where getting passport in time is a gigantic task, there are signs of huge relief for the intending Hajj pilgrims who will get their passports with limited period validity instantly without any cumbersome verification from Police and its Crime Investigation Department.
Jammu and Kashmir is the only state where facility of tatkal passport is not available even as more than 100 applications are received everyday. Jammu and Kashmir is the only state in north India where we have strict instructions not to issue any passport without police and CID verification, Regional Passport Officer (RPO), Kashmir, B S Manavlan said.
However, all the pilgrims, selected by Jammu and Kashmir State Hajj Committee (SHC) will be issued passports, valid for eight-months, without police and CID verification to enable them to undertake pilgrimage to holy cities of Mecca and Madina.
However, those going through private tour operators will not have such facility and they will have to apply for general passport which requires CID and police verification, the Regional Passport Officer (RPO), Kashmir, B S Manavlan said.
He said following directions from the centre, all pilgrims selected for Haj-2009 by the SHC will be issued passport by July 31 without police and CID verification which otherwise was must in other cases. The RPO said the passport will be valid for eight months and the pilgrim has to surrender it after return from pilgrimage.
He said the pilgrims will have to route their application for passport through SHC. The SHC will issue application forms for passport, collect it, receive fees and forward the same to us for issuing passports for 8-months only. However, those who have already applied for passport will have to give an undertaking in the Regional Passport Office (RPO) here that they have been selected for pilgrimage by the SHC. They will also have to produce selection slip of the SHC, he said.
He said the Haj passport will be valid for only eight months and those who have applied for general passport will be issued separate passport after their return from Haj after proper police and CID verification.
About those who would be selected in additional quota being provided to the state, he said they too will be provided passport for eight months as and when their applications are received through SHC.
Manavlan said this facility will not be available for those who are going for Haj-2009 through private tour operators. In such cases they (intending pilgrims) will have to apply for general passport which will be issued only after receiving CID and police verification.
Commenting on the non-availability of tatkal facility, the RPO said, “the passport office has no reason to stop passport to any person cleared by the CID, however, at the same time we cannot issue passport without their clearance”.
Mr Manavlan said there is no Tatkal facility for the citizen of Jammu and Kashmir for security concerns. ''In all cases we have to get clearance from the CID before issuing the passport to any person of the state,'' he said.
However, in case of students getting admission in educational institutions outside India, sports persons going to participate in sports events and officials attending conferences abroad will get passport which will be valid for one year.
The students have to produce admission letter from the institutions where he or she has been selected, the RPO said adding on that very basis the passport will be issued immediately for one year. However, after one year, the student will be issued full term passport after proper verification by police and CID, he said.
Similarly, sports persons will also have to produce their selection certificate for getting immediate passport, he said and added that government officials going abroad to participate in conferences too have to submit government order in the passport office.
When asked why there is no Tatkal facility in Jammu and Kashmir when the government claims that situation has improved, Mr Manavlan sai d this is a central government policy we cannot do anything on this
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