e-Passport seekers' woes

Bangladesh's entry to e-Passport era was believed to come as a relief for the passport seekers. e-Passport services have been introduced in all passport offices across the country recently. Still, electronic passport seekers allege harassment and irregularities at the passport offices.

Harassment starts when any person makes a mistake while filling the application form for e-Passport. Instead of cooperating, the passport officials say the faulty application will be cancelled automatically after 21 days and one can apply again after that. But in most cases, the applications that need corrections are not deleted even after two months. At the regional offices, passport seekers often hear of one common problem: 'server is down. Please, come later.' Besides, you have to carry out the formalities needed to complete your application from one desk to the other. But, everything starts smoothly when one bribes passport officials. All kinds of cooperation are available at the passport offices if anyone can bribe the officials from Tk 1,000 to Tk 5,000.

The irregularities and harassment faced by passport seekers must come to an end. Alongside improved technologies, the authorities concerned should now monitor the passport officials so that no question can be raised over their integrity and ethics.

Afroza Sheikh

Dania, Dhaka

[email protected]