One-stop service opens but hassles, long queues remain

Long queues of passport seekers at the passport office at Agargaon.Photo: STAR

As many as two thousand people, all sweaty and weary, have been standing under the sweltering heat of the unyielding sun since morning till noon in queues that zigzagged on the premises of Department of Immigration and Passport (DIP) at Agargaon in the capital.
That was the scene at DIP last Monday -- sixth day following the introduction of a simplified one-stop service at the passport office.
The one-stop service centre, introduced to ensure swift passport services, is not yet showing any signs of impact to reduce the hassles people go through at the passport office everyday, observed passport applicants.
While the new service centre promises applicants to provide various passport related services in a day, the ordeal of waiting in long queues is still there.
Launched on August 29, the one-stop service allows applicants to complete endorsement-related adjustments such as updating occupation, date of birth, name or address within a day's time for a fee of Tk 500.
Though it was named "One Stop Service", to get service from here, applicants will first need to collect form 'Kha' from counter 1 and then go to 'Receiving Desk' with the filled-out form only to wait a few hours in long queues.
Despite the DIP's claim that any applicant would get back the endorsed passport within two hours of submission of the form to 'Seal Desk', actual time one needs to spend during the whole process including standing in the long lines is much longer.
"I stood in about a half-kilometre-long queue on the road outside since10:00am in the morning," said Mahmud Islam who arrived at the passport office at 8:00am and managed to step inside the DIP compound after zigzagging his way through the queue.
"The heat is just unbearable. I feel like collapsing," added a visibly exhausted Islam trying to defy the midday sun.
The exhausted and exasperated faces described the excruciating sufferings people are having to face at the passport office -- for submitting new passport applications or for collecting those, and for renewing or getting attachments to the old ones.
A disappointed Hasan, waiting in the queue outside the one-stop service centre, said he might be lucky enough to get the passport that same day. Even if he received it that day, he was not sure if he would be able to apply for a New Zealand visa in time since the deadline for the visa application was only a few days later.
"I applied for an urgent passport, but I did not get it in two months," said another applicant, Harun. "Who will compensate for the loss if I cannot apply for my visa for Italy this year? I will have to wait for another year if I fail," he added.
However, a good number of people expressed their optimism about the one-stop service because under the new system, they would have to bear the hassle of getting attachments to their passports for only a day.
"Previously, just to make a small change on our passports, we had to go through the same ordeal for several days as they [passport officials] could not get the job done during one visit. But this new service would allow us to get the job done in one day," said Jahangir Alam from Uttara.
Nazrul Islam, the official in charge of the one-stop passport service, could not be reached for his comments despite repeated attempts.
A number of one-stop service officials blamed inadequate manpower for the situation. They assured that things would improve with time.
"Since the one-stop service has just been introduced, you cannot expect an instant progress. Things will only get better from now on," said an official at the one-stop service of DIP.
One of the main reasons behind the terrible state of service delivery in this vital department is that only 65 DIP officers are there to serve around 2,000 people that throng the office everyday.
The passport building, which is usually crawling with passport brokers, was found almost broker-free with around 20 policemen and Ansar personnel keeping a strict vigil.
Despite the vigilance of the law enforcers, two brokers approached this correspondent offering their services. Two others were also seen roaming around with forms in their hands on the road outside the entrance of the passport office.