Question : STREAMLINING PASSPORT ISSUANCE SYSTEM

(a) whether the number of pending passport applications is increasing every year in the various passport offices;

(b) if so, the details thereof, State-wise and the reasons for delay in issuing them;

(c) whether issuance of fake passports is on the rise in the country;

(d) if so, the number of cases detected during each of the last three years;

(e) whether several passport officials have been found to be involved in such cases;

(f) if so, the details in this regard, State-wise and

(g) the action taken/proposed to be taken against the guilty officials?

THE MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF EXTERNAL AFFAIRS (SHRI VINOD KHANNA)

(a) The number of pending passport applications has come down in almost all passport offices. The total number of applications pending during 2001 was 1,50,278. This figure came down to 83,877 during 2002, a reduction of 44.18%.

(b) A statement showing the number of pending passport applications as on 31-12-01 and as on 31-12-02 at various passport offices is placed as Annexure I. States covered are also indicated. Delay in issuance of passports is mainly on account of delay in receipt of clear police verification report and incomplete applications.

(c) At times passports are fraudulently obtained or passports are subsequently tampered with.

(d) The number of cases of issuance of fraudulently obtained passports were 3 in 2000, 3 in 2001 and 3 in 2002.

(e) Yes. Eleven passport officials have been found to be involved in such cases and penalties have been imposed.

(f) State-wise details are as follows :

Delhi	-	2,	Gujarat	-	1,	Maharashtra	-	1,	UP	-	7 

(State-wise) as on 31.12.2001 and 31.12.2002
S.No.	Name of RPO/PO	State covered	Applications pending	as on 31.12.2001	Applications pending	as on 31.12.2002
1 Ahmedabad Gujrat	46907 45797
Diu-UT
2 Bangalore	Karnataka NIL 2118
3 Bareilly	11 districts	of Uttar Pradesh	13 districts of Uttaranchal	2624 801
4 Bhopal Madhya Pradesh Chattisgarh	334 44
5 Bhubaneswar Orissa 949 3366
6 Chandigarh 11 districts of Punjab 14 districts of Haryana Himachal Pradesh Chandigarh-UT	NIL 2365
7 Chennai 17 districts of Tamil Nadu 13015 2426 Pondicherry-UT except	districts of Mahe and Yanam
8 Cochin 5 districts of Kerala 15599 490	Lakshadweep-UT
9 Delhi Delhi 8593 1335	5 districts of Haryana
10 Ghaziabad 11 districts of Uttar Pradesh NIL 2233
11 Guwahati Assam NIL 96	Arunachal Pradesh	Manipur	Meghalaya	Mizoram	Nagaland
12 Hyderabad	20 districts of Andhra Pradesh	2978 71	Pondicherry-UT district of Yanam
13 Jaipur Rajasthan NIL 4120
14 Jalandhar 6 districts of Punjab NIL 3677
15 Jammu 6 distrists of J&K NIL 40
16 Kolkata West Bengal NIL 313	Sikkim	Tripura
17 Kozhikode 7 districts of Kerala 14937 4497	Pondicherry-UT(District	of Mahe only)
18 Lucknow	48 districts of Uttar Pradesh 24889 1986
19 Mumbai	Dadra & Nagar Haveli NIL 1051	Daman	5 districts of Maharashtra
20 Nagpur 18 districts of Maharashtra 892 36
21 Panaji Goa 309 170
22 Patna Bihar 7968 100	Jharkhand
23 Pune 6 districts of Maharashtra NIL NIL
24 Ranchi Jharkhand NIL NIL
25 Srinagar 8 districts of J&K 3853 130
26 Thane 7 districts of Maharashtra NIL NIL
27 Trichy 16 districts of Tamil Nadu NIL 3056
28 Trivandrum 3 districts of Kerala 6431 1225
29 Vishakhapatnam 5 districts of Andhra Pradesh NIL 2334
Total 150278 83877
Note: Actual pendency is counted from the date, the clear police report is received.