Chennai: Improved processing of passports promised by the regional passport office has failed to address the issues of Kashmiris, who end up waiting for as long as nine six months to get their passports.
“I applied for my passport when I was studying at IIT Madras, in April 2015. By June, all the police, and CID verifications were done in Pulwama and Chennai,” said Mir Ishfaq, a resident of Pulwama, who finally got his passport in January 2016. The verification processes started a week post his submitting application.
Last December, even after making around 40 calls to the RPO in Chennai, he had no idea when he will finally get his passport.
“In December last year, I made many rounds to the police stations in Pulwama district and in Srinagar but to no avail. Finally, I was told that the police verification was complete and that they were clueless why it was taking so long,” he added.
“There was a time I had been calling the passport office daily. I spent so much money and time in the last nine months. Nine months is no short amount of time,” he continued.
A research assistant at IIT Madras, Ahmad applied for his passport in October last year. Five months have passed, the police carried verification in Chennai and his hometown but he does not know when he will get his passport. “I have been visiting the Regional Passport Office to know about my passport,” said Ahmad Shah.
He is aware that it takes longer as the process for residents of J&K takes longer but this long wait essays discrimination, he added.
“It is a three-tier process of passport verification for J&K residents. Many who need to go for studies and job opportunities often miss out on them because of the time taken to get their passports,” said a senior journalist based in Srinagar.
