Rural people to get passports at doorstep

Aiming to end the harassment of the passport seekers in rural areas, Access to Information (a2i) programme of the Prime Minister's Office with the Department of Immigration and Passports, has taken the passport service to the grassroots.

A passport seeker, now, will not have to go to district passport office frequently as the service is being provided at the Union Digital Centers (UDCs) countrywide.

This service has been launched in eight districts -- Rangpur, Panchagarh, Pabna, Kushtia, Jessore, Barisal, Chandpur and Sylhet -- in June and will start in more than 5,000 UDCs very soon, said Mazedul Islam, a2I programme coordinator.

Till now, a passport seeker has to come to the passport office in the district town to collect form, pay fee, submit the form, be snapped and then collect the passport. But under the new process, they will be able to complete the formalities online in UDCs, deposit fees and submit the form in that very office, he added.

NM Zeaul Alam, director general of Department of Immigration and Passports, said the service will reduce the typing error in application process and the entry of middlemen.

Since the inception of the service around 3,000 passport seekers submitted applications, he added.