External Affairs Minister, Sushma Swaraj on Monday reformed policies pertaining to the passport and its police verification.
The External Minister tweeted, “If you submit an application with copies of Aadhaar, Voter ID and PAN Card with an affidavit of no criminal case, we will issue the Passport. The police verification will be done later. You can choose any appointment date from the earliest five available dates for Passport related services.”
Citizens will be granted a fresh passport within a week if their applications are accompanied by mere these three documents; Aadhaar Card, Voter ID and PAN Card with an affidavit in the format of Annexure-I (declaration of no criminal record).
This new reformed policy is prone to be at larger risk of corruption and a path for fake passport racket. When Afternoon Voice asked readers on their views on the recent passport policy:
Saif Khan said, “At the Passport Seva Office in Lucknow, brokers openly roam around proclaiming their presence. They are willing to arrange for any document and claim that they have the ability to get the work done as soon as possible. Is it possible that the authorities sitting inside are not aware of the presence of these brokers,” Khan said.
Further adding he said, “Does it hint at a possible nexus between the two which might enable a person with incorrect documentary evidences to illegally avail a passport. This new policy will prove to be a major outcome on corruption.”
“Police verification of such applications will be conducted after the passport is issued, subject to online validation of the Aadhaar number. What is shocking is that Voter ID and PAN cards will be validated only if required and passports will be impounded and revoked later after the issuance of passport, in case of adverse police reports.”
Another reader Sandeep from Bhopal who had recently gone through the passport application process said, “I was not aware of the process of online application for passport, hence sought an agent, the agent asked for Rs. 1000 more of which the passport fees, in what he said will fill my application, give me an appointment date and a person will accompany me to the passport office. I was also asked if I am holding all valid documents, if not I will be charged more to forge the documents.”
A Lawyer from Bandra court in Mumbai on grounds of Anonymity said, “An affidavit can be made within an hour or two, with mere one or two documents. A nominal charge varying 500-1500 is charged depending on the affidavit and client,” he said.
The idea of the upgrade is to liberalise the process without compromising on security, explained Anil Kumar Sobti, director of the passport division in the ministry. “There are plenty of inbuilt safeguards in our system which can instantly spot fake identities and forgeries. Most importantly, our system is linked to the Aadhaar database which helps conduct real-time verification of the applicant while s/he is still at the passport seva kendra,” he said.
When we asked an expert on the Aadhaar database linkage, he said, “Everyone is aware of the Aadhaar Centre and how they function, there is no tab on who walks in or out of the centre, there are agents roaming freely, a forged Aadhaar can be made just by paying between Rs. 2000-2500.”
In a recent investigative story by leading news channel in India reported India’s fake passports racket in which it busted number of fake passports.
The story revealed passports which were issued in the name of Paru Sharma, Manisha Dubey and Barkha Yadav by Delhi’s Regional Passport Office in 2015. All three passports had the same address – K-77 Humayunpur Village.
While on paper there seems nothing wrong with these addresses, investigation team found on physical verification that the address K-77, Humayunpur Village did not exist. The channels investigation revealed that all these passport holders were actually Nepalese citizens.
Foreign nationals need to pay anything between Rs. 2-6 lakh to get an Indian passport, the report said.
Another racket revealed five passports issued at A- 209 Friends Colony an under-construction building which has been unoccupied for the last four years.
Paris attack mastermind, to the Pathankot Attack, fake passports have been used to unleash terror across the world. And with India being vulnerable to terror, fake passports the new reformed policy could be another chink in our armour.
