Passport applicants are not receiving certification of police verification from police department within 15 days. Uttarakhand Director General of Police BS Sidhu had said on December 10 that with the implementation of e-governance system in the State, police will be able to provide police verification certificate to passport applicants within 15 days after January 1, 2014.
According to sources in the first phase, Passport Seva Project Service which was supposed to be implemented as a pilot project in four districts Dehradun, Haridwar, Udham Singh Nagar and Nainital on January this year but was implemented in June. "We try to give verification report within 15 days, but in some cases, verification reports are delayed due to force being deployed in various other duties in the district," said a police officer.
Taking cognisance of complaints from passport applicants who had to wait up to 80 days for police verification certificate and to prevent corruption in this process, the DGP had decided to launch Passport Seva Project Service as a pilot project in four districts from January 1, 2014. But it was delayed for six months and implemented in June this year. Days after its implementation many applicants have not received their police verification report within the stipulated time.
Intelligence inspector Bl Madhwal said, “This service was launched as a pilot project in June at district headquarters of Dehradun, Haridwar, Udham Singh Nagar and Nainital. In Dehradun district, except few cases, passport applicants were given verification certificate in about a fortnight but we are not sure about the time taken by the passport office to issue passport to the applicants.”
Earlier, Sidhu had said that district and State database of the applicants will be linked with database of the Union Home and External Affairs ministries. Using Crime and Criminal Tracking Network System (CCTNS) for verification of applicant, police verification certificate will be issued to applicants within 15 days after verification of the applicants' address, identity, citizenship, criminal antecedents and lIU reports, the DGP had said.
He had said that in the first stage, required documents submitted by the applicants will be verified and applicants will be given token. In the second phase, passport office staff will verify their documents.
In the third stage, an officer of superintendent and above rank will verify the document. One copy will reach the PHQ intelligence where it will be uploaded on CCTNS. Critics opine that police had drafted a good plan for passport applicants but failed to execute it as planned.