BPO engaged to process passports permanently

Mahmuda ShaolinbrThe government has permanently engaged the post offices to process passports after a pilot project proved to have eased hassles for thousands of overseas travellers and job seekers.brThe Bangladesh Post Office (BPO) Monday signed an agreement with the Department of Immigration and Passport (DIP) to start the passport processing works across the country. brBPO will help rural people to prepare the passport application at a cost of Tk 200 as service charge, Abdur Rob Hawlader, DIP director general told the FE Tuesday.brThe BPO is expected to earn about Tk 200 million a year by providing the services, said BIO director general Mobassher ur Rahman told the FE. brWith BPO's inclusion in the passport processing job, the DIP's passport delivery capacity is expected to increase by at least 20 per cent. We're hopeful BPO will be able to start the job this month, DIP DG Hawlader said. brThe home ministry took the decision after seven city post offices processed passports successfully during a three-month test period, Mobassher ur Rahman.brOur processing jobs have impressed the home ministry. We have shown that the passport processing can be done easily, without much extra cost and at a one-stop service point, he said.brThe caretaker government assigned the BPO to do the passport processing jobs in November last year amid mounting complaints against the immigration and passport department.brHundreds and thousands of overseas job applicants have to bear extra cost and face daily hassles at the department's head office at the city's Agargaon area and some of its regional head offices to obtain a passport.brOn an average, the department issues some 200,000 passports a year, although last year the figure almost doubled due to record number of people going abroad with jobs. brSince being assigned with the processing jobs on a pilot basis, the seven city post offices have processed 12,000 passports with the applicants facing 'least amount of hassle', according to the BPO.brThe BPO chief said that they would now assign the passport processing jobs to five more city post offices and then spread the service to 70 district post offices and a few more offices in Dhaka and Chittagong. brFor processing of each passport, we will charge only Tk 200. It is the same tariff charged by the Trust Bank Limited, he said, adding the BPO will procure computers to save the passport applicants' data. brThe BPO, which is heavily subsidised by the government, incurred a loss of around Tk 1.30 billion in the financial year ending June 2007.brThe passport processing job is part of the BPO's major reforms to diversify its work and bring down the annual losses.brThe BPO is one of the largest public sector employers, with a strong 40,000 staff working in over 10,000 post offices spread across every nook and corner of the country.br