Passport 'dalals' rule roost

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Black smoke emitted by a factory in Nandalalpur area under Fatullah thana in Narayanganj district polluting the environment. The photo was snapped Saturday. — Focus Bangla Photo

Doulot Akter Mala
Middlemen are still active at the passport office in the capital despite the government's relentless effort to make the service faster and hassle-free while issuing the newly introduced Machine Readable Passport (MRP).
It has been found that some middlemen (locally termed Dalal) stand on application-sumbitting queues at the Agargaon passport office. Later, they sell the sought-after 'place' to the passport seekers.
People are made to pay minimum Tk 1,000 for the spaces to fill in for submission of applications for a passport.
These middlemen take additional money from the passport seekers allegedly with the connivance of a section of the police.
The Agargaon passport office receives three hundred applications every day. Many of the passport seekers have to come for the second day for submitting their applications.
"I am surprised to see the presence of dalals hampering even machine readable passports service. I've had to pay Tk 1,000 for standing on a queue virtually by replacing a person," said Anwar Hossain, an applicant for passport.
They (dalals) occupy places on the lines before sunrise and sell the position to the people applying for a passport, he said.
"There is no specific booth for issuance of 'entry coupons'. We do not know from where they issue these coupons, said Abul Hossain, who came to the passport office for receiving a passport for his three-year-old son.
All of the applicants for passport have a slip with a number and a date of delivery of passports, he said.
The government has launched MRP as per international rules in May last and assured the people of providing fast and efficient service, but every day at least 700 people come here and wait for a long time for receiving their passports, Abul Hossain said.
"It is not possible to keep waiting for the whole day in an open compound with my kids for passport," said Salma Huq, a housewife, who was waiting for three long hours for receiving passport.
Every day there are some backlogs from the previous day. As a result, people have to spend two full days in the final phase of passport delivery, she said.
"I've to take leave from my office for applying and taking delivery of passports. Complicated procedures and lack of organised efforts of passport delivery may make the MRP project a flop one," said Mominul Huq, another applicant of MRP passport.
Talking to the FE, director general at the passport office M A Mabud said: "I have received these complaints. They will be resolved within the shortest possible time."
"Passport authorities will take immediate action if they find anyone harassing the service seekers, he said.
The authorities already instructed the officials to deliver all the passports for which they have issued tokens, he said.
Insufficient space at the passport office has added to the sufferings of the passport seekers, he said.
There will be two more wings of the passport office at Uttara and Jatrabari soon in an effort to decentralise the passport issuance process, he said.