Thiruvananthapuram passport office best in India
Mr Karattil told DC that the hard work of employees was the major factor that helped the RPO bag the honour.
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Thiruvananthapuram regional passport office has been ranked the best among the 37 regional passport offices in the country. External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj presented the award to regional passport officer Ashique Karattil in New Delhi on Tuesday. Among the 15 yardsticks considered for the ranking were the time taken for processing passport applications and grievance redressal, speed at which passports are issued, productivity of employees and ease in getting appointments at Passport Seva Kendras (PSKs).
Till last year, the ranking was based on different categories of passport offices and the Thiruvananthapuram passport office was ranked first in category-B. From this year onwards, ranking of all the 37 RPOs are done together. Hence, the achievement attains more significance. Mr Karattil told DC that the hard work of employees was the major factor that helped the RPO bag the honour.
"We are now able to issue passports that do not require police verification within 24 hours and the average time required for processing of an application is only 30 to 40 minutes,” said Mr .Karattil, an IES officer hailing from Tirur in Malappuram. He said speedy police verification and speedy dispatch by the postal department contributed to the efficiency of the RPO. The Vazhuth-acaud, Neyyatinkara, Kollam and Pathanam-thitta Passport Seva Kendras are under the Thiruvananthapuram RPO.