The Hindu: Tiruchirapalli: Thursday, 10 July 2014.
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| A view of the Social Audit Cell opened at the Regional Passport Office in Tiruchi. |
To empower
applicants, give information on pending applications.
ASocial Audit
Cell has been opened at the Regional Passport Office, Tiruchi, to provide
information regarding pending passport applications, especially complicated
cases.
All
information that is supposed to be provided by the office as per the Right to
Information (RTI) Act would be provided at the cell upon oral enquiry by the
applicants free of cost, said Regional Passport Officer K. Balamurugan.
Explaining
the objectives of opening the cell, Mr. Balamurugan, in a press release, said
the move was intended to empower applicants, especially those from rural areas,
and enhance transparency.
While
literate persons obtain information regarding their pending applications
through the Grievance Cell or under the Right to Information Act, it had been
noticed that illiterate or semi-literate applicants from rural areas were not
aware of the RTI Act.
But they
frequented the Passport Office and some of them fall prey to touts, who hold
out false promises to get them passports.
The Social
Audit Cell has been opened primarily for the benefit of such applicants, Mr.
Balamurugan said and added that information would be given in the form of hard
copies to persons who had pending applications.
Copies of
documents such as police verification reports with remarks or notes of the
police officials; file notes of the verification officer or granting officer
regarding ‘on hold’ applications; details of previous or lost passports to
enable applicants to file an FIR with the police regarding loss of passport;
and details about information sought from missions or embassies abroad for
issue of passport to applicants who had travelled on emergency certificates
(EC) could be obtained from the cell.
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