3 post offices in city to issue MRPs
Sunday, 11 July 2010
Sonia H Moni
Bangladesh Post Office (BPO) got nod of Home Ministry for issuing Machine Readable Passport (MRP) at three post offices in the city in association with the Department of Passport and Immigration.
BPO Director General M Mobassherur Rahman told the FE, "We have got the permission to receive applications and issue MRP at three post offices at Uttara, Gulshan and Dhaka Sadar."
"We will complete setting up of equipment in these centres by July 15 and after that we will sign a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Department of Passport and Immigration in this connection."
The BPO DG said: "After that they will install software for MRP in these three centres and we will be able to provide MRP services to applicants in an easy and smooth way."
The Department of Passport and Immigration started issuing MRP to applicants from March 1, 2010 through Dhaka and other nine regional passport offices.
The government has launched this as per international rule and assured the people of providing quicker and well-organised services to at least 700 people a day but the situation is far from reality.
The passport seekers alleged that they were facing different types of hazards including middlemen's interference and the wait for a long time in queue on the premises of the Dhaka passport office.
The DG said, "the Department of Passport and Immigration will set up 34 passport centres in the country and for operating these centres the government will have to recruit 2800 persons."
"The establishment of 34 centres is a time-consuming matter. At the same time recruitment of 2800 is unnecessary as the existing manpower of the post offices is enough and they are fully capable of handling the issuance of MRP," he said.
All the post offices in the country started taking applications and issuing passports to the applicants from August 14, 2008.
He said, "We delivered around 60,000 manual passports through post offices across the country within last 13 months in a hazardless way."
"It will be easy for us to introduce the MRP services in 81 post offices within maximum two months as we have experience in issuing manual passport and we have necessary equipment like computers and fingerprint scanners."
He added that they would have to buy only cameras for the post offices.
Bangladesh Post Office (BPO) got nod of Home Ministry for issuing Machine Readable Passport (MRP) at three post offices in the city in association with the Department of Passport and Immigration.
BPO Director General M Mobassherur Rahman told the FE, "We have got the permission to receive applications and issue MRP at three post offices at Uttara, Gulshan and Dhaka Sadar."
"We will complete setting up of equipment in these centres by July 15 and after that we will sign a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Department of Passport and Immigration in this connection."
The BPO DG said: "After that they will install software for MRP in these three centres and we will be able to provide MRP services to applicants in an easy and smooth way."
The Department of Passport and Immigration started issuing MRP to applicants from March 1, 2010 through Dhaka and other nine regional passport offices.
The government has launched this as per international rule and assured the people of providing quicker and well-organised services to at least 700 people a day but the situation is far from reality.
The passport seekers alleged that they were facing different types of hazards including middlemen's interference and the wait for a long time in queue on the premises of the Dhaka passport office.
The DG said, "the Department of Passport and Immigration will set up 34 passport centres in the country and for operating these centres the government will have to recruit 2800 persons."
"The establishment of 34 centres is a time-consuming matter. At the same time recruitment of 2800 is unnecessary as the existing manpower of the post offices is enough and they are fully capable of handling the issuance of MRP," he said.
All the post offices in the country started taking applications and issuing passports to the applicants from August 14, 2008.
He said, "We delivered around 60,000 manual passports through post offices across the country within last 13 months in a hazardless way."
"It will be easy for us to introduce the MRP services in 81 post offices within maximum two months as we have experience in issuing manual passport and we have necessary equipment like computers and fingerprint scanners."
He added that they would have to buy only cameras for the post offices.