The Department of Passport under the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has been efficiently delivering services, giving a huge relief to service seekers.

The department, one of the busiest offices of the government, is visited by a large number of service seekers every working day.

Almost 1,200 service seekers visit the office on Sunday to Monday while on other days up to 700 service seekers reach the office.

The department issues machine readable passports to Nepali citizens and travel documents to eligible persons. But still the service seekers share their unpleasant experiences regarding the quality of services catered by the office.

When this reporter, photo journalists and colleagues from the sister publication, the Gorkhapatra daily, reached the Department of Passport, situated at the Narayanhiti Museum premises, on Thursday for taking a snapshot of work at the office and its service delivery situation at 9:30 am, hundreds of service seekers had already lined up in front of its gate.

The reporters found that the condition of the office, its service delivery and complaints handling were satisfactory.

No middleman

Surprisingly, the most remarkable improvement the office has gained over the months is that there was no presence of middlemen, unlike in other government offices.

While interviewing with more than two dozens service seekers, not a single person said to have encountered a middleman offering them assistance. Min Bahadur Tamang of Dolakha who reached the office to apply for his friend’s passport shared that the office had improved its services compared to its situation in 2012.

Tamang said when he reached the office in 2012 for his passport, he had waited for six hours just to apply for the passport.

“There were numbers of middlemen then to harass the service seekers but the situation is now totally different now. One can easily apply for the passport by their own,” he said

“We have been providing prompt, efficient, responsive and secure service to the service seekers, and they need no middleman,” said Director General of the Passport Department Ram Kaji Khadka.

Majority of the service seekers shared that they completed all the required process to apply for an MRP within two and a half hours.

Chandra Bahadur Gharti of Kailali, who reached the office at around 10 am on Thursday to apply for his son’s passport through fast-track system realised that the office had made significant improvement in its service delivery.

“But the money the office has been charging for the fast-track MRP issuance is quite high. If we don’t have urgency, we will never apply for this.”

If someone wants to get a passport within a day, they can apply for fast-track service by paying Rs. 15,000 and the service seekers needs to pay Rs, 12,000 if he/she wants the passport within 48 hours and only Rs, 10,000 if they want a passport in three days.

When asked about the high fees, DG Khadka said even the developed countries like America and Germany charged higher fees to provide early service.
People clueless about online form fill up service

Of late, the department has introduced digital service to receive applications of passports. However, the service seekers seem quite confused about the online forms.

They shared that they were clueless where the service was being provided. They have to run here and there searching for the place to fill up the online form.

To fill the online form, the service seekers have to reach a cyber located at the other side of the road, where they have to pay Rs. 100 for each form.

Sabita Bista from Butwal, who had reached the department alone, said she didn’t face any hurdle while applying for her passport.

Had there been the facility online form, it would have been easier for the people, she said.

Spilt sewage

Despite all the improvement in its service delivery, the office seems neglecting the sewage management.

The office has been welcoming its service seekers by the foul smell that emanates from the damaged sewage and toilet located at the right side of the entrance gate.

People were seen covering their nose while passing through the office. Director General Khadka said the problem would be solved very soon.

Lactation room in a sorry state

Respecting the rights of the lactating mother, the office has constructed a lactation room in office premises.

There were a few chairs and a table in the room. However, they were all covered with layers of dusts, making it harder for mothers and their babies to use it.

Workload on staff members

This reporter found that the employees in some departments were working in pressure of workload. In some department, only one staff was seen working.

“After the government removed 21 employees of the office, we have been facing a hard time managing the workload of the staff members,” said DG Khadka.

There was a problem managing the flow of service seekers after the Malaysia offered job opportunities a few months ago and opening of the DV lottery programme in October 2, said Khadka, adding that the office, however, had never compromised in delivering prompt service.

Director General Khadka said that there was a need to appoint 21 new staffs to further improve the service in the department.

He said that appointing skilled and technical employees and

creating encouraging environment was a must to make service more efficient.
He shared that in a lack of skilled manpower, the office had to depend on manpower from outside.
“Employees here get transferred frequently and the employees appointed in contract basis tend quit job in lack attractive programmes for them, he added.

“The office has already entered in digital system. But the service seekers are not capable of using this service and this is the major challenge to the office,” he added.

He further said that it was difficult to deliver the passport in the rural areas due to the geographical barriers. “The office has been working to make an agreement with the postal office to ease the passport delivery. However, the effort has remained unsuccessful.”

Complaint hearing system

DG Khadka said the office had formed a separate division to hear the complaints of the service seekers.

The office has been receiving complaints of the service seekers through a box installed inside the office, through emails, through Hello Sarkar and through direct application.

Published on: 6 December 2019 | The Rising Nepal