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Snap passport service from April

A.S.R.P. MUKESH


Ranchi, Oct. 5: Come 2011, the state capital will become the third Indian city to boast an ambitious project that seeks to streamline the process of distribution of passports plagued by exponential demand and inordinate delay.

The ministry of external affairs, which piloted its Rs 1,000-crore Passport Seva Project in the cities of Bangalore and Chandigarh earlier this year, plans to launch the snap service in Ranchi in April next year.

According to sources at the regional passport office (RPO), the project developed by IT major Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) will ensure delivery of passport within three-four days of an online application. Currently, the minimum period for issuing a general passport is 90 days and for those under the Tatkal scheme is seven to 14 days.

“The online process is smooth, swift and transparent. At present, one can only download a form from the web. But once the new system is in place, one will be able to fill up a form online. The RPO will have everything from biometric devices (for fingerprints, retina scan, et al) to a 24-hour call centre. Also, status updates will be provided through text messages and emails,” said S.K. Sinha, assistant passport officer, Ranchi.

The RPO in Ranchi caters to the entire state of Jharkhand and according to officials, around 250 passports are issued daily. Records show 3,000 applications are currently in waiting.

“The figure is till June, as the waiting list is generally calculated with a backdate of three months. Most cases are delayed due to police verification, as we try and clear forms from our office as soon as possible. We also keep sending reminders to departments concerned,” Sinha said, adding that the project was designed keeping in mind these time-consuming procedures.

“Even under the Tatkal scheme, it takes seven to 14 days. Now, all this is set to change,” he said. An applicant will just have to pay a mandatory visit to the RPO, after filling up the online form, for biometric recognition.

Once through, the Passport Seva Project also promises to put an end to the menace of brokers and unauthorised passport agents. The agents charge thrice the actual fee for a quick job and draw more applicants than laggard passport officials.

Sinha, however, denied departmental inefficiency. “To make our services more efficient, we have recently formed a three-member committee headed by two passport officers and a superintendent who conduct surprise visits on regular basis. Also, we have a dedicated enquiry kiosk. Whatever happens outside the RPO is not our lookout,” he said.

The RPO, currently located in Dhurwa, is also mulling a new address. “On an average, over 200 people come here daily. The numbers soar at times, leading to chaos. Though the new facility will ease pressure and improve our delivery mechanism, we still need a place less congested,” said an official. Three locations have been identified, but a decision is yet to be taken, he added.

Walk and play

environment spiritualism

Ever thought what’s common between Baba Ramdev, Jaggi Vasudev, Gyalwang Drupka, Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, Balbir Singh Seechewal... besides their being the spiritual gurus? They all have taken up the cause of preserving the environment. And they are not only preaching but actually working on the ground level to make the difference.
Be it walking on snow-capped mountains to educate people in remote areas of the Himachal about preserving environment, mobilise people to save the Ganga, provide money and employment to farmers for practicing organic farming or simply exhorting people to plant trees for sustainable environment — the gurus are going all the way to inculcate a sense of care for environment among people. And undoubtedly, people are responding to gurus’ call.

Recently when Gyalwang Drupka, who heads the 800-year-old Drupka lineage (one of the oldest Buddhist sect ) kicked off his 400 km pad yatra (march on foot) from Kardang in Lahul Valley till Ladakh in Jammu and Kashmir to educate people about how to live in sync with the environment, thousands joined him to support the cause he was propagating.

“Many aspects of metro culture and swanky living are still alien to the people living in remote parts of Himalayas. To me they are the real caretakers of the environment. However, what’s a cause of worry is that with tourism being promoted in these areas at a rapid pace, the areas are getting polluted too. Like the use of plastic is on rise and plastic is a major concern for mountain ecology,” said Drupka guru.

“Tourism is also important to development. So our yatra is just to educate people about the benefits of using cotton and cloth bags and educate them to say no to plastic. We also distributed eco-friendly bags among people as a gesture to encourage them shift towards more eco-friendly products,” added the guru, whose yatra would conclude in the later part of this month to kick off the ceremonies of Hemis festival in Ladakh in early August.

So what is making the gurus render spiritual teaching in the background and take up the save environment cause? “No religion teaches you to live in isolation away from environment. The essence of all the religious teaching over the ages has been to live in close harmony with nature and mankind. However, with abrupt developments and people’s growing greed, Mother Nature has totally been destroyed,” said his holiness.

Agreed yogic guru Jaggi Vasudev of Isha Foundation, “We have all seen the devastating consequences of deforestation and global warming across the world in the form of floods and hurricanes. One of the simplest ways to counter these effects is to return to the nature.” Vasudev has been one of the pioneers of “environment spiritualism.” At present, he is leading a massive plantation campaign — Project Green Hands in Tamil Nadu. “The aim is to focus on and spread a simple message — ‘Trees give life, protect them’,” he remarked.

The plantation drive had started two years ago and since then there has been a gigantic increase in the green cover in Tamil Nadu. Said Vasudev, “Two years back, the green cover of Tamil Nadu was around 17 per cent but today it has increased to 33 per cent. Till now we have planted over 114 million trees and are now lot of youths are constantly associating with us.”

Another yoga guru who has been guiding people towards healthy eating and living has taken up the task to clean the Ganga. Baba Ramdev, the co-founder of Patanjali Yog Peeth in Hardwar has been spearheading a campaign under Ganga Raksha Manch to purify the mighty river from its source in Gangotri to Ganga Sagar in Bay of Bengal.

By his sheer will and hard work, Seechewal managed to revive almost dead Kali Bein river in Punjab. Known as Rodda wala Baba (saint of the roads) for his missionary zeal to make pathways and connect people, Seechewal is now mobilising people to venture on other green projects like eco-farming. Talking about his initiatives, he says, “The environment can be saved only by the common people. And its only spiritual leaders who can spearhead the green activities for people connect with them easily.”