[Resolved]  Kochi Passport Office — Renewal and Other Problems

PASSPORT RENEWAL PROBLEMS
LOCATION: KOCHI OFFICE

During the months of November and December of the year 2008, I had experienced numerous problems for the renewal of my Indian Passport, which had previously been issued from the High Commission of India, at Nairobi Kenya. The renewal was supposed to be done at Kochi’s regional passport office and I was to return to Kenya with haste. But the renewal of the passport was a very exhausting, stressful and disappointing. It seems like the staff dealing with the renewal of passports are incapable of handling their duties optimistically. I hereby, request action by the government to alter operations at the office. Some of the key hitches I endured are briefly explained below.

MISINFORMATION
The most significant problem is the recurrent provision of misinformation. The staff who analyze the documents before allowing people to stand in line had gone through the provided documents and approved them. But after a long wait, I was told I am not eligible. This could have been avoided if the staff who analyzed the documents had identified the missing documents. After returning with the documents, we were told there is another document missing. This kept recurring, leading to delays, which resulted in me postponing my flight more than twice.

THE ECNR
The Emigration Check Not Required (ECNR) stamp must be stamped onto the passport of individuals who have attained their SSLC (SSC). I had presented my GCE Advanced Level results initially, with approval, which is equivalent to the pre-degree (SSLC/SSC) certificates of India. They took quite some time to understand that GCE is a globally recognized system from UK, but finally agreed. Upon the collection of the renewed passport I identified the Emigration Check Required (ECR) stamp and when asked, the staff dwelled on the same issue of the GCE A-Level’s credibility. They said they would require some time to modify it but my ticket was booked and everything was finalized.

CARELESSNESS
Carelessness is ample at the Kochi passport office. After approving the application, it has to be sent to the area police station. When I followed up the progress at the police station, I was told they received the application late as it had been sent to another station by the staff of the passport office. Luckily, the police station retrieved it.

THE LOCATION
The location is a very old building which has a very low capacity. The area for the initial queue is not roofed and therefore exposes the citizens to rain and the sun’s scorching heat. The interior area is enclosed and small too. The confined space leads to suffocation and exhaustion. Seeing a government office in such a state diminished my image of Kochi. It is not presentable to people from abroad. More facilities and systems, as well as counters must be enforced. This can also decrease the time one has to spend to be attended to.

ATTITUDES AND BEHAVIOR
The staff at the office are extremely rude and very arrogant and seem to forget they are in the government service. They must serve the citizens with compassion and respect. They often use sarcasm. This has to be changed as it is not professional or ethical.

I am hoping that action will be taken immediately.


Sreejith Renjit
P.O. Box[protected]
Nairobi, Kenya
[protected]@gmail.com