news details |
|
|
| 16, 000 passport applications still pending in J&K, CM's directive misfires | | | Syed Junaid Hashmi
Jammu, July 26: Habitual of fudging figures and making exaggerated claims, Jammu and Kashmir Government is yet to clear more than 16, 000 passport applications.
Home department has been taking minimal interest in getting the entire much delayed process speeded up. Chief Minister's office has dispensed its responsibility by issuing a statement that Government has taken up the issue of pending passports with Union Ministry of External Affairs, which has assured of getting the process speeded up.
Delay is owing to laid back attitude of State agencies involved in the process of verification of passport application. Intense scrutiny by atleast three security agencies i.e. CID, Counter Intelligence (CI) and Special Branch for both Kashmir and Jammu regions respectively has made the process cumbersome. After these three security agencies, police station concerned also holds a separate verification. Thus, the verification process may take months at minimum, and also years in some cases.
Despite Chief Minister Omar Abdullah's vehement claims, State Home Department is yet to come up with an effective alternative. According to the officials records, J&K Govt received 65, 416 passport applications in the year 2010. It has claimed to have cleared 61, 217 of these applications, leaving 4199 cases pending. In the year 2011, J&K Govt has claimed to have received 84,928 applications and cleared 58,784, leaving a huge number of 26, 144 cases pending.
It has made no mention of backlog cases and also preferred not to give details of the cases cleared. Early Times has learnt reliably that the cases cleared include few from the fresh applications received and processed by the passport authority of India. Government on its part has said that cases are under process for various reasons like non-receipt of reports from different field agencies for different clarifications.
Government claims flat when one looks at the figures for the year 2012. According to the official records, State Government received 16, 660 cases for clearance. Of these, State has so far cleared just 274 cases, leaving 16, 386 cases pending for verification. This huge number includes 4707 pending cases from Srinagar district, 1408 from Baramulla, 1185 from Anantnag district, 1068 from Rajouri and 1995 from Jammu.
State Government has just cleared 5 cases from District Doda, out of 90 cases received. From Kathua, 173 cases were received and only 2 have been cleared. 141 and 103 cases were received from Reasi, Awantipora, Budgam, Ganderbal, Handwara, Kargil, Kulgam and Samba respectively; Government has failed to clear even a single case. From Baramulla and Sopore, Government received 1418 passport applications.
It has so far cleared just 10 cases, leaving 435 cases pending. Not only is the issuance of fresh passports an issue in Jammu and Kashmir, seeking renewal of an old one is equally taxing and exasperating. Hence, a Jammu and Kashmir-born citizen may have had passport for 25 years but a fresh one or renewal will require verification and clearance by security agencies in the State.
In most cases, the verification report never comes, particularly involving those who have left their places of birth long ago. Commoners maintain that getting a passport is an important achievement and can be equated with getting an academic degree.
They assert that they face deep agony and daunting process for getting a passport while adding that in some cases, a document may get misplaced and then the person has to run from pillar to post for getting new one. Commoners also talk about corruption while saying that one has to spent cash as bribe at different stages during the process which takes months and even years at times. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
| |
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
|
STOCK UPDATE |
|
|
 |
| BSE
Sensex |
 |
| NSE
Nifty |
|
|
| |
CRICKET UPDATE |
|
|
|
|
| |
| |
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
