Hundreds line up from 3am for Passport Adalat at RPO

Secunderabad: Hundreds of passport applicants, clad in sweaters, scarves and beanie caps, turned up at the Regional Passport Office in Secunderabad from 3am itself for ‘Passport Adalat’ on Saturday. As it was the first Passport Adalat held by RPO, Telangana, applicants were allowed walk-in without prior appointments. By 8am, the entire Market Road was teeming with passport applicants and their kith and kin. A serpentine queue was noticed up to the main road near Clock Tower. The applicants came from all 33 districts of Telangana to get their long pending issues resolved. Though the manual process of their passport application was completed at their respective PSKs and POPKs, their travel documents were put on hold due to reasons like necessary documents not submitted, issues in date of birth proofs, incorrect addresses, police verification and other issues. “I came along with my daughter Neelima and seven-year-old granddaughter from Khammam. We have been waiting in the queue since 4am. She did not receive a passport even though the process was completed some time ago. She wants to go to the UK for a job,” 63-year-old T Padmasree told TOI.A 28-year-old software engineer from the city, Revathi, wanted to go to Canada for better job opportunities. “Tthe process was over a month ago, but police verification is pending. Local police advised me to meet RPO to take the process forward,” Revathi, a resident of Miyapur, said. A few applicants urged passport officials to conduct Passport Adalat bimonthly at district level instead of holding it at RPO to clear pending issues.Till 9 am, police did not allow applicants inside RPO premises. And when they did, they allowed only applicants, while family members were forced to wait on the pavements outside the office. The RPO authorities set up 10 special counters for Passport Adalat. “Nearly 800 applicants attended Passport Adalat. Though the Adalat was to be held between 10am and 12.30pm, we accommodated all the applicants,” regional passport officer (RPO) J Snehaja told STOI.Most applicants failed to submit required documents or filed incomplete applications, which caused considerable issues, the RPO explained.Applicants have to upload all documents, prescribed by the ministry of external affairs (MEA), on the passport official portal. “So that, it is easy for us to issue passports,” an MEA official stated.