Tareen Rahman :
Getting a passport is a citizen right. People are supposed to get them without any hassle if they fulfil all the conditions.
But the passport seekers at Agargaon Passport Office are to go through age old complications every day, such as, lengthy system of getting a passport, miscommunication with authorities, misbehaviour of superiors, negligence of dishonest officials and above all hassle and confusion created by brokers.
Even getting the initial application through, one has to stand in long queues by lining up in at least two or more lines and sometimes after reaching the end they can get the shocking news that the proper documents were not submitted and so they have to start all over after getting the error sorted. As there is no assigned section or officer who can outline or guide the people about the steps involved in this process, more confusion and anomaly is being created.
A couple of months back, the authorities have removed the booth from inside the
passport office compound and now the passport-seekers need to walk nearly half a kilometre for depositing the fee to the nearest branch of Sonali Bank.
This is not a pleasant experience for many as previously issuance fee could be deposited in a booth inside the compound.
Brokers seemingly have taken control of services at the Agargaon Passport Office in league with a section of corrupt officials, causing immense sufferings to the clients.
Victims have said it is impossible for most overseas job seekers from rural areas to get a passport without the middlemen’s interference as officials do not render services smoothly following their involvement in such rackets.
Not only that, the complex architecture of the huge compound and the jig jags of different booths and buildings itself creates confusion among the passport seekers and further aggravates the issue.
The lift service is poor with no generators running during power failure and the capacity of the lifts being low makes it difficult for elderly and sick people to go through the different booths to resolve this issue of getting a passport.
Abdul Hassan, a resident of the Cantonment told The New Nation that the system has not improved even after the launching of machine readable passport (MRP) in 2010. I had to spend the whole day standing in several long queues and it was a snail’s pace journey. Moreover, the harassment created by the brokers is often intolerable for the people standing in long queues.
They (brokers) keep bothering and trying to convince people that they can get things done really quickly for some payment because they have connections inside the office.”
When the police personnel of the respective thana was asked regarding the harassment of the passport seekers, they could not give any convincing reply. They, however, said that from time to time they rounded up many of these brokers. Yet the problem could not be resolved as the brokers soon get out of jail and continue with this malpractice, they added.
Even after completing all the official steps at the office and getting the application into the system, there is no scope of relaxation for the applicant. There are allegation that the officials of Special Branch (SB) of Police, who do the security verification for passport, resort to extortion and harassment of applicants in the name of verification.
There is a common view that a civilian has to be well connected with officials either inside the passport office or in the government or to pay bribes for getting a passport. High officials of the Department of Immigration and Passports, however, denied all the allegations.
The officials said: “The Government has set up two more offices in Dhaka, one in Jatrabari and another in Uttara, in addition to the existing regional office at Agargaon to fasten the smooth delivery of passports. Appropriate measures would be taken if anyone filed any specific complaint about any irregularity. “
The MRP system was introduced in 2010 so that the country can be at par with developed countries and also in order to overcome the limitations of the former analogue passports. Yet public harassment faced regularly remains an unresolved topic.
A high official, preferring anonymity, said it would not be possible to remove corruption until there is an honest and efficient management. He, however, said the illegal practice declines to some extent only when the police arrest the brokers. “But after some days they are back there”.
Getting a passport is a citizen right. People are supposed to get them without any hassle if they fulfil all the conditions.
But the passport seekers at Agargaon Passport Office are to go through age old complications every day, such as, lengthy system of getting a passport, miscommunication with authorities, misbehaviour of superiors, negligence of dishonest officials and above all hassle and confusion created by brokers.
Even getting the initial application through, one has to stand in long queues by lining up in at least two or more lines and sometimes after reaching the end they can get the shocking news that the proper documents were not submitted and so they have to start all over after getting the error sorted. As there is no assigned section or officer who can outline or guide the people about the steps involved in this process, more confusion and anomaly is being created.
A couple of months back, the authorities have removed the booth from inside the
passport office compound and now the passport-seekers need to walk nearly half a kilometre for depositing the fee to the nearest branch of Sonali Bank.
This is not a pleasant experience for many as previously issuance fee could be deposited in a booth inside the compound.
Brokers seemingly have taken control of services at the Agargaon Passport Office in league with a section of corrupt officials, causing immense sufferings to the clients.
Victims have said it is impossible for most overseas job seekers from rural areas to get a passport without the middlemen’s interference as officials do not render services smoothly following their involvement in such rackets.
Not only that, the complex architecture of the huge compound and the jig jags of different booths and buildings itself creates confusion among the passport seekers and further aggravates the issue.
The lift service is poor with no generators running during power failure and the capacity of the lifts being low makes it difficult for elderly and sick people to go through the different booths to resolve this issue of getting a passport.
Abdul Hassan, a resident of the Cantonment told The New Nation that the system has not improved even after the launching of machine readable passport (MRP) in 2010. I had to spend the whole day standing in several long queues and it was a snail’s pace journey. Moreover, the harassment created by the brokers is often intolerable for the people standing in long queues.
They (brokers) keep bothering and trying to convince people that they can get things done really quickly for some payment because they have connections inside the office.”
When the police personnel of the respective thana was asked regarding the harassment of the passport seekers, they could not give any convincing reply. They, however, said that from time to time they rounded up many of these brokers. Yet the problem could not be resolved as the brokers soon get out of jail and continue with this malpractice, they added.
Even after completing all the official steps at the office and getting the application into the system, there is no scope of relaxation for the applicant. There are allegation that the officials of Special Branch (SB) of Police, who do the security verification for passport, resort to extortion and harassment of applicants in the name of verification.
There is a common view that a civilian has to be well connected with officials either inside the passport office or in the government or to pay bribes for getting a passport. High officials of the Department of Immigration and Passports, however, denied all the allegations.
The officials said: “The Government has set up two more offices in Dhaka, one in Jatrabari and another in Uttara, in addition to the existing regional office at Agargaon to fasten the smooth delivery of passports. Appropriate measures would be taken if anyone filed any specific complaint about any irregularity. “
The MRP system was introduced in 2010 so that the country can be at par with developed countries and also in order to overcome the limitations of the former analogue passports. Yet public harassment faced regularly remains an unresolved topic.
A high official, preferring anonymity, said it would not be possible to remove corruption until there is an honest and efficient management. He, however, said the illegal practice declines to some extent only when the police arrest the brokers. “But after some days they are back there”.
