Naresh Kevalramani, a passport applicant from Pune has been seeking appointment online for the last whole week but did not get it. He has been assured an appointment by a passport agent. Will TCS and the Regional Passport Office still blink despite this evidence?

Vinita Deshmukh

The trauma of getting an online appointment after an applicant has filled his online application form for getting his new passport or renewing passport continues to haunt citizens in Pune.

While the efforts of the Pune Passport Grievance Forum (PPGF) has resulted in sporadic efficiency, the overall dismal picture of online appointments evading the applicant for weeks, the pre- and post-police verification issues continue. Similarly, the “hell care” attitude of citizens at the Passport offices run by the ministry of external affairs and the Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) respectively has also been reported.

Following is an example of a forthright citizen Naresh Kevalramani, who has applied for renewal of the passports of his wife and son, but has not been able to get his appointment online since the past week. Finally, a passport agent assured him an appointment. Kevalramani has shown guts as a citizen to come out in the open and forward the email of the passport agent, instead of keeping quiet and getting his personal work done through these means. If many more Kevalramanis come out in the open, exposing passport agents, it could make a difference. 

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