Passport

This is the story of how I got my Passport . Generally there should not be much to write on this subject for ordinary mortals. But the Passport Office made mine a unique case.
After retirement in 2005 I thought of applying for a Passport. ( I do not have any intention of using it , as I am scared of Travel by Air & Sea. ). Its only for the heck of it !! Every Tom, Dick & Harry is applying & flaunting it. So why not I ? So I located one agent like character in my area.
I thought why not I get one for my wife. The agent came to our place with a bunch of Forms.Filling up my Form was fine. As far as my wife is concerned he wanted me to prove that we are married. Now after 34 years of our blessed married life somebody wants a documentary proof.( In our days there was no Registration Process). My son was always taunting that he was born out of wedlock as we did not have documentary proof . So the Agent chap said that an affidavit will be enough. ( I still do not understand the legal validity of these affidavits-- you commit a crime, and swear before some body and the deed becomes holy !!). Anyway, the Agent brought some Stamp Paper ( hopefully not the Telgi type ) and got it notarised and made it into an authenticated Document . So finally after 34 years our marriage had been blessed and recognised by the Law of the land !! Hope my son is now satisfied about the legality & legitamacy of his pedigree !!!
The agent submitted the Applications on 14 th June 2006 and informed that Police Verification would be done in a week and that Passports will be received in a maximum period of 21 Days . Even the Government does not give this kind of Guarantee !! Promptly one Police did visit our place and noted down the details. After a week I started visiting the Website of Indian Passport
to check the status-- it was written "Police Verification not received" --I thought that it may take some time ( as we know the police are busy protecting the precious lives of our politicians !!) and visited the website after another fortnight. There is some improvement-- " your application is under process "---so far good. After 3 months I visited the Passport office,the fellow told me that police had confirmed my honesty for only 11 months ( that unfortunately is the date on which my Ration Card address was modified to the present Address ). They wanted my old address along with two more photos , I promptly submitted. In fact this particular form with the old address was submitted along with the original one also, which was not taken into consideration. Then after waiting for 3 more months I visited the Passport officer and after waiting in Que for 4 Hours, the Officer ( incidentally this chap was PRO when my ordeal started
and even he got his promotion in these three months ) ,very sweetly says that my verification for the previous address was not received and wanted me to verify from the Police Commissioner's office. I very faithfully visited them.The concerned chap just brushes you out and vents his feelings about the Passport office and their lethargy etc... but blesses me with some 4 Digit Number under which my verification was forwarded. I trek back to Passport Office(hereinafter known as P.O ). Again stand for 4 Hours and meet the P.O , show him proudly my Number. He says " we are not challenging this but it refers only to 11 months ". He sweetly asked me to submit the Forms along with 2 photos all over again. Mind you this was the Fourth time I repeated this exercise and exhausted all my photos.( As one of my friends said --my photos are available in plenty with P.O and police-- which I hope they would not use them for some unsavoury purpose !! ) .To ensure proper receipt I was given the "Honourable Job of Courier" and went back to Police again. That was the Fourth Visit there. I was looking like a criminal, as the receptionist and the other police started greeting me !!!(they must be wondering whether I was a "seasoned criminal" or new entrant ). Meanwhile I started writing letters to the Editor in various Newspapers, visited Kiran Bedi's site ( just a day before she wrote an article in Asian Age glorifying the Police & P.O s.I shot of letters to her, Chief Passport officer,New Delhi , Public Grievance Cell New Delhi & even the President of India who all have kindly acknowledged my sad story and assured that the letters have been forwarded to the Ministry of External Affairs. Out of frustration I made a final visit to the Passport Office in february 2007 and the PRO (totally different character) who appeared to be very cooperative and courteous had gone through my case and expressed shock & surprise at this undue delay and even expressed regret. By the way we got our Passports exactly after 2 5 2 Days.
Government says we can get Passports online in 10 Days. What a Joke !!
My advice:
1. Never go through an Agent--you can yourself submit.
2. Never apply for a Passport unless you complete atleast 12-13 months at the present address.