To be merged with Kozhikode office more than a decade after it was bifurcated.
MALAPPURAM: The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) has directed the Regional Passport Office (RPO) authorities in Malappuram to wind up operations by November 20 as part of its dismantling. The office will be merged with RPO Kozhikode more than a decade after it was bifurcated from Kozhikode. A senior official said that November 17 would be the last working day of the Malappuram office. The process of shifting has already began. The computers, furniture, printing and binding machinery will soon be moved to Kozhikode. 38 staffers will also be shifted back to Kozhikode office. Earlier, the ministry had transferred eight staffers from Malappuram office to other RPOs including Ahmedabad and Mumbai.
The MEA has also transferred Malappuram Regional Passport Officer G. Shivakumar to Coimbatore RPO. He has been directed to take charge at Coimbatore on November 20. The Passport Seva Kendra in Malappuram will be retained and attached to Kozhikode RPO. There were protests against the centre’s move to shut down the RPO in Malappuram which is the only RPO for a district in the country. The Malappuram RPO started functioning in 2006 catering to Malappuram and Palakkad districts. However in 2015, Palakkad district detached from Malappuram RPO to relieve the burden of one of the busiest passport offices in the country. The dismantling of the Malappuram office came after the MEA implemented changes in the functioning of RPOs including not allowing them within a distance of 100 km between each other. The distance between Kozhikode and Malappuram RPOs is around 50 km.
