Chennai: As many as 25,000 applicants are still waiting to receive their passports in Chennai region. This is due to a delay in the supply of booklets from the India Security Press, Nasik. It has put many applicants, especially those who had applied for renewal of passports in a quandary as they are not able to travel abroad even for employment.
Sources in the Regional Passport Office (RPO), Chennai said that the officers are working in two shifts now to clear the backlog. “We have started receiving passport booklets in batches from last week. We will work two shifts to clear the backlog at the earliest,” said a senior officer.
Meanwhile, many applicants were disappointed in not receiving their passports on time. “I applied to renew my passport two weeks back. The police enquiry is over, but I haven’t yet received the new one,” said V. Saravanan (36), who is waiting to take up a job in Kuwait.
Saravanan was earlier employed in Malaysia and returned to India six months back. “Now, I have been offered a job as a piping supervisor in an oil company in Kuwait. My visa is ready and they had given August 15 as the deadline for submitting my passport. Now, I think I will not get this job,” rued Saravanan.
Likewise, there were many others who have been affected by the delay in issuance of passports. When contacted, a senior passport officer said that some ingredients required to produce booklets had to be imported from different countries and so there was a delay in issue of passports.
However, a passport officer in Tiruchy added that those in urgent need of passports could approach the passport office with proof. “We will give importance to those with medical emergencies, employment opportunities, student admissions and government delegations,” the officer added.
