This despite an assurance in Parliament that passports will be issued within 30 days of submission. And the queue of persons waiting for their passports at Shastri Bhavan, housing the Regional Passport Office (RPO), is ever increasing.

Enquiries revealed that supply of passport booklets from the Nashik Press from where the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) gets its stock has run into rough weather following a tiff between the government and the Press. There is always a huge gap between supply and demand. The Chennai office gets only about 10,000 booklets at a time, grossly insufficient.

Though shortage of booklets is a recent phenomenon, it never was smooth sailing for applicants. Till recently, waiting time for getting passports was 70 days. Even during best of times, the RPO would issue passports only after about 40days.

When contacted, officiating Regional Passport Officer K Raghu Ram told The Indian Express that those who show proof of urgency would be given passports immediately. ‘‘If they have any problems, they are free to meet me. Till June 1998, of the 75,000 fresh applications, the office issued 61,000 passports. Several of them are waiting because some queries have been raised.

The RPO in Chennai which gets about 500 new applications every day is constrained with other problems, the worst being the touts menace. There is absolutely no control whatsoever and the police has not been able to do much about it. Queues would begin from around 6.30 a.m. every day and a random check would point out that most of them standing would be touts. And the queue would stretch from the second floor office in Shastri Bhavan right up to Haddows Road.

The office is so congested that there is not much waiting space and the passport officials have to work in the corridors to verify the applications. And the Passportoffice is hard-pressed for staff to handle the overflowing crowds. The conditions under which the 120-odd staff work is pathetic. Worse, there is nobody to answer queries of hundreds of applicants. And touts take advantage of this situation.

This reporter witnessed how touts were physically pulling the applicants promising them that they would get the passport for them. The applicants are left to fend for themselves.

Outstation people suffer the most, waiting in the queue with absolutely no clues when their turn will come to submit the application form and if it is 12 noon, the counters close down. Asokan of Mayiladithurai district, who came recently to submit his application said the RPO should accept applications in the afternoon also at least from outstation applicants.

The Information Booklet detailing how to apply for a passport, the procedures, whom to approach and how to approach, the applicants rights, which has been issued by the Government of India and supposed to be given to applicants is notavailable.

The tele-enquiry (telephone number 823 5554) is functional only during office hours. Applicants said unless this facility is made available 24 hours, it would not solve the purpose. Says S Suresh, ‘‘Most of us are office-goers and we will not have time to make enquiries during the day.

Another rule that the passport applications should be accompanied with a certificate from a notary public especially for a marriage affidavit is ridiculous, said Syed Hassinuddin of Nungambakkam. ‘‘Why should a notary public tell who my wife is? And there are enough notary public to give you certificates without even seeing the person.