Many applicants had to wait a long time by applying for a passport. The victims complained that the passport was delayed for various reasons, including police verification or shortage of information. Since February 7, a large part of the suffering has been reduced due to the police verification system. However, the capital's Agargaon Passport Office is still alleged to have a long time to verify other papers. On the other hand, the police verification system has risen to get the passport of criminals or foreign nationals. Experts and experts have warned about this.
According to the previous directive of the Passport Department, the passport would have to apply online and submitted the required documents on the scheduled date and fingerprint. The applicant's papers were sent to the SB office of the police for verification (verification). The police went to the applicant's area and verified the papers and reported. Thus, after the verification was completed, the applicant was given a passport. According to the official website, it takes two for the passport, seven for emergency passport and seven for the general passport.
It was alleged that in the past, the police used to show various excuses, including the shortage of information in the application. The bribe from the applicant became the rule. One of the middlemen of the passport office is one of its middlemen. In recent times, the violence of the broker has been greatly reduced in various corridors of the authorities. In order to reduce the suffering of the last passport, the interim government decided to give the police verification system. According to a announcement by the Home Ministry on February 7, the passport will be given on the basis of the National Identity Card (NID) information.
According to the new announcement of the Home Ministry, the passport will be given without police verification on the information of the newly verified birth certificate for Bangladeshi citizens and minors living abroad. In the case of the passport re -issue, the basic information on the existing passport changes should be given to the national identity card.
According to the Home Ministry sources, more than 5 million citizens of Bangladesh are currently in different countries of the world. On an average of 5,000 people go abroad every month. That is, this new announcement will apply to a large number of citizens. At present, an average of 25-5,000 people apply every day in passport offices in the country and abroad. Of these, 20-20 thousand passports are printed a month.
On March 25, the chief adviser said. Muhammad Yunus said in a statement that after the cancellation of the police verification system, 5,000 new passports have been delivered to the applicant till then.
Complaint
Recently, they went to Agargaon Passport Office in the capital and spoke to the applicants. In Serejamin, hundreds of people came to get a passport throughout the day. After verifying their papers, the officers send the fingerprint to the room. Talking to some applicants, it is reported that they are no longer in bribery or suffering because of the police verification conditions. It was reported that those who came to collect the passport after the process of giving a fingerprint, they also got it within the stipulated time. Some of the common people have also expressed concern that some of those who received the passport based on national identity card or birth certificate are not a criminal or citizen of another country.
Officials of the Passport Department say there is no separate authority or manpower in the department to verify whether the applicant is a criminal or a citizen of any other country. Fingerprints of applicants are taken by verifying the papers on the basis of national identity card or birth certificate. There is no further step. The passport is handed over to the applicant only after printing.
Al-Amin, who came from Mirpur on March 7, told today's magazine, “I apply online and submit fingerprints and papers. Then I got a message to take the passport. I got in my hands before that working day. There was no extra trouble. '
Md. From Tikatuli in the capital. Rakibul Islam said, 'I got a passport in time without any suffering. After the passport was printed, they gave the message to take it. I came to take that message. '
Applicants, however, complained that he had to wait for a few hours to verify the papers before giving a fingerprint. There are only two counters to verify the papers of more than 100 applicants within the stipulated office period. According to the serial, the service of the broker cycle and the people of the passport office sometimes work outside the line.
On March 7, a man who came to submit the papers along with the application form from Matikata in the capital told the reporter, “After waiting for two hours, I see 5 more in front. In the meantime, Ansar members in charge of security or officers brought others. So I don't know how long it will take. '
Come to take the passport. Nazmul Hasan Sahabi said, “I had to stay in line for paper verification for 4 hours. But the stress of the people there is low in the fingerprint. '
Disrespect
Many of the culprits or foreign citizens are feared to get a passport due to the long wait for the applicants to verify the paper and lack the police verification system. Especially in the neighboring Myanmar millions of Rohingya living in this country and many of them have been concerned about the allegations of going abroad in Bangladesh's passport. The Director General of the Immigration and Passport Department tried to contact Major General Nurul Anwar several times in this regard, but no comment was received.
Associate Professor of Social Welfare and Research Institute of Dhaka University. Touhidul Haque said, “In the name of police verification, the passport applicants were harassed in various ways. However, the criminals can take advantage of the passport offices because there is no separate organization or arrangement for verification. There is a risk of escaping abroad by committing crimes and passport by foreign people with incorrect information. You have to be careful not to get a passport to escape abroad by committing a crime. '
The corruption surveillance agency TIB has been demanding the cancellation of the police verification system due to corruption or harassment. Asked about the possible security risk due to the cancellation of the verification, its executive director said. Iftekharuzzaman told today's magazine, “It is not reasonable to consider the issue of verification in terms of security. Because, there are other laws for identifying criminals and not passport. This system was actually to harass the common people. The government has reflected our demands. '
