Ulidavaru Kandanthe

      Malpe, a small fishing town on the Arabian Coast. Located 6 kms to the west of the temple town, Udupi. Malpe's beaches are washed clean everyday by the sea. The waves ensure that nothing gets left behind on the sands. But then, the waves cannot reach everything.

        It is the time of the year when Udupi and its surroundings are decked up to celebrate Sri Krishna Janmaashtami. Men and children walk the streets dressed up as characters from mythology. Teams painted as tigers are seen dancing to drum beats all around the town. But violence seems to be brewing in Malpe this Krishna Janmaashtami.

An Open letter to the Ministry of External Affairs with regard to Passport Issuance

Dear sir,

I am very disappointed with the Tatkaal passport issue system at  the Bangalore office near Marathahalli. 

As per your very own website,  it clearly says a verification certificate or 3 supporting documents are necessary. But on my visit to the Tatkaal office with all the relevant documents, they suddenly inform me that verification certificate is mandatory and I need to submit the same by 3 days. 

http://passportindia.gov.in/AppOnlineProject/docAdvisor/attachmentAdvFreshInp

Document Code	Document(s)	Mandatory(M)/Optional(O)/Conditional(C)
7001	Proof Of Present Address List of Acceptable Documents	M
7002	Proof Of Date Of Birth List of Acceptable Documents	M
8068	Standard Affidavit as per Annexure 'I'	M
8065 7003	Verification Certificate as per the specimen as per Annexure 'F' OR 3 out of 16 documents listed as under List of Acceptable Documents	M
8015	Documentary proof for any one of the Non-ECR (previously ECNR) categories. Documents Required for Non-ECR	M

Note: The information provided above is indicative. The decision of APO/RPO shall be considered final.

When I tell them, why isnt it mentioned on the website, they have this singular ruling " The decision of APO/RPO shall be considered final". So, the next step is to find the person who will issue a verification certificate. The list goes like this 

(i) An  Under Secretary/Deputy Secretary/Director/Joint Secretary/Add. 

Secretary/Special Secretary/Secretary/Cabinet Secretary to Government of India

(ii) A Director/Joint Secretary/Additional Secretary/Special Secretary/Chief Secretary 

to a State Govt.

(iii) A Sub-Divisional Magistrate/First class Judicial Magistrate/Additional DM/District 

Magistrate of the district of residence of applicant.

(iv) A District Superintendent of Police, DIG/IG/DGP of the district of residence of 

applicant.

(v) A Major and above in the army, Lt. Commander and above in the Navy and Sq. 

Leader and above in the Air Force

(vi)The General Manager and above of a Public Sector Undertaking

(vii All members of any All India Service or Central Service who are equivalent to or 

above the rank of   an  Under Secretary to the Government, i.e. with Grade pay 

of Rs.6,600/- and above.

(viii)Resident Commissioners/Additional Resident Commissioners of all State 

Governments based in Delhi.

(ix)Concerned Tehsildars or concerned SHOs for an applicant staying in the area 

under his/her jurisdiction.   

(x) The Chairmen of the Apex Business Organizations, i.e. FICCI, CII and 

ASSOCHAM in respect of owners, partners or directors of the companies that 

are members of the concerned Chamber in prescribed performa as at Annexure 

“J”. (The certificate should specify applicant is a owner/ partner/ director of the 

company)

Majority of these offices have put up a board in front of their office saying, "Annexure F will not be issued in this office for Passport tatkaal appointments"

I do agree that there are few exceptions to this category. But, my question is "How do you expect ordinary citizens to have connections/contacts with such high profile officers?"  If an ordinary citizen cannot apply to Tatkaal, which is your so called advanced service, of what use is it then for the general public ? You charge higher fee for the same and at the same time make it available to the rich and the affiliate class. I don't see any kind of common sense in this kind of government service. 

Now with a lot of difficulty, I got the verification certificate from someone I knew. In the verification certificate, the lines read this way.

ANNEXURE ‘F’

SPECIMEN VERIFICATION CERTIFICATE (FOR PASSPORT UNDER TATKAAL 

ONLY) (On official letter head of verifying authority)

(To be given in Duplicate* along with Standard Affidavit as at Annexure “I”)

I got an original & a photocopy attested and signed by the same person with a photo ID photo copy attached. Now the passport officers say, they need two originals. 

They have put my passport on hold. I regret to say this, but the whole purpose of applying to tatkaal passport has been defeated. I missed my exams worth Rs 11000/- and ended up shelling out 4000/- for this nonsense service. 

I would have given my file number, but then that would probably increase chances of holding my passport for much longer.  If you can really make a change, please modify these discrepancies and restore faith in public.