Walk-in facility sees heavy rush of applicants at passport office

Hyderabad: The walk-in facility without appointment fixed for Thursday saw a massive stream of applicants, including women and children, lining up at the Hyderabad Regional Passport Office (RPO) from 7 am.

They were those whose applications were withheld for want of documents or police verification certifications.

Nizamabad native Neeraj Kumar, who was in the queue of approximate 700 applicants, said that his police clearance was delayed because of a communication gap. “As there was no police clearance, I had to come and meet officials personally. I came around 7 am,” he said.

Naresh Malyala from Karimnagar, whose application for renewal was withheld because documents were missing, said, “The queue is too long. Women and children are also standing on the roads. There should be some arrangement for those waiting for their turn.”

Mahesh Kinne, a native of Station Ghanpur, who had applied for a change of date of birth, said, “I stayed in a lodge overnight. I don’t know why there is such a big queue. After all, this RPO is ranked among the top five in the country in the issue of passports.”

Regional Passport Officer J. Snehaja said, “Hyderabad RPO has revamped the enquiry appointment system and issues 250 online appointments every Monday, Tuesday and Friday.  There are no online appointments on Thursdays and applicants with any grievance or query can walk-in between 9.30 am and 12.30 am. These enquiry appointments are free of cost.”

Going further, Snehaja said, “On an average, we process and clear around 500-600 enquiry appointments on Thursdays. These numbers are expected to be stabilised in a couple of weeks. We advise everyone to attach all relevant documents while submitting their applications itself so as to avoid unnecessary delays.”