(a) whether the regular inspections of the passport offices are carried out;
(b) if so, the dates on which the inspections were last carried out RPO- wise and the outcome thereof;
(c) the remedial steps taken by the Government based on the outcome of the said inspection; and
(d) the details thereof, regional passport office-wise?
THE MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF EXTERNAL AFFAIRS(SHRI E. AHAMED)
(a)to(d) The Passport Offices all over India are regularly inspected at various levels to monitor their activities and also to devise ways and means to improve their functioning. The Passport Office in Delhi was last inspected by the Foreign Secretary and other senior officials on 16.8.2005. A separate regular counter to attend to the Senior Citizens, the physically challenged and Government Officials has been opened at Passport Office, Delhi with immediate effect.
The details of inspections carried out in the last few years are indicated in Annexure `A`. These have led to a better and speedier passport issuance system and related services. .
ANNEXURE `A`
Inspection of passport offices since 2003 till date
Sl.No Passport Office Inspected by Dates of inspection inspected 1 Ghaziabad JS(CPV.II) 2002 2 Kozhikode APO(inspection) 1st to 4th January 2003 3 Mumbai Director(PV) 22nd to 23rd February 2003 4 Chandigarh Secy(PCD) 11th 12th March 2003 5 Lucknow Secy(PCD) 2nd & 3rd April 2003 6 Hyderabad Secy(PCD) 24th 28th April 2003 7 Visakhapatnam Secy(PCD) 24th 28th April 2003 8 Ahmedabad JS(CPV.II) 26th to 27th June 2003 9 Surat Secy(PCD) 15th & 16th August 2003 10 Chennai JS(CPV.II) 24th 27th August 2003 11 Bangalore JS(CPV.II) 24th to 27th August 2003 12 Hyderabad JS(CPV.II) 24th to 27th August 2003 13 Ahmedabad Secy(PCD) 25th to 26th September 2003 14 Kolkata JS(CPV.II) 8th to 10th October 2003 15 Chennai JS(CPV.II) 12th to 18th October 2003 16 Trichy JS(CPV.II) 12th to 18th October 2003 17 Trivandrum JS(CPV.II) 12th to 18th October 2003 18 Jalandhar Director(PV) 30th to 31st October 2003 19 Bhopal Director(PV) 9th to 11th November 2003 20 Ahmedabad JS(CPV.II) 1st to 3rd December 2003 21 Chennai Secy(PCD) 24th to 25th December 2003 22 Chandigarh JS(CPV.II) 8th to 10th February 2004 23 Chandigarh Secy(PCD) 10th February 2004 24 Ahmedabad JS(CPV.II) 20th February 2004 25 Ahmedabad Secy(PCD) 20th to 21st February 2004 26 Guwahati FS Jan-05 27 Delhi AS (ER) 16th February 2005 28 Kozhikode JS(CPV) 25 to 29 April 2005 29 Delhi JS(CPV) 1st June 2005 30 Delhi FS, AS (AD &ER) & JS (CPV) 16th August 2005