Little seva at Passport Seva Kendras

BANGALORE: Ravi H N took a train on Tuesday to Bangalore from Gauribidnur, a town bordering Andhra and Karnataka, to apply for his passport.

Hours later, and frustrated, he is still waiting at the newly opened Passport Seva Kendra (PSK) at Lalbagh Road in Bangalore. There are many others like him. People from various parts of the state have come to apply for new passports or renew old ones, but it has turned out to be an excruciating experience for all.

“Come here at 1 am and you will see people sleeping in front of the PSK in order to be the first to collect their tokens,” said Maqsood Ahmed, who came from Mysore to apply for a passport. “It took me more than six hours to just get my application accepted,” he added.

Inaugurated amid much fanfare, the PSKs are the result of a Rs 1,000 crore outsourcing contract between the Ministry of External Affairs and Tata Consultancy Services in 2008 to streamline the passport services in the country.

Mohan, a techie from Bangalore, had a similar experience. Even after following the online procedure and cross-checking with the customer care centre, he had to wait for hours.

Meanwhile, in Mangalore, things have taken an ugly turn with protests being staged for better and faster service at the PSKs.