The Hindu Business Line : CAG raps Home, External Affairs Ministries

Passport woes
Lack of caution has resulted in issue of 275 fake passports and passports to criminals, terrorists and foreign nationals.
In nine of the selected regional passport offices/passport offices only 12 per cent passports were issued on time after receipt of police verification reports.

New Delhi May 17 The Comptroller and Auditor General of India has found gaping holes in the performance of passport, visas and consular services being administered by the Ministries of External Affairs (MEA) and Home Affairs, stating that "effective supervision, monitoring and internal controls were lacking in passport matters".

In its performance audit report, tabled in Parliament on Thursday, the CAG said that this lack of guard has resulted in the issue of Indian passports to foreign nationals, issue of 275 fake passports and issue of passports to criminals and terrorists. "The MEA did not initiate corrective measures to strengthen its internal controls even after the deficiencies and malpractices were brought to its notice," the report said.

`Not on time'

Stating that in nine of the selected regional passport offices/passport offices only 12 per cent passports were issued on time after receipt of police verification reports (PVRs), the report found that in 10 of these RPOs/POs even where police verification was waived, 38 per cent of the passports were issued after the prescribed time.

Under the Taktal Scheme, in 80,725 cases passports were not issued within the specified time though in these cases additional fees of Rs 872.49 lakh had been charged by RPOs/POs of Kozhikode, Bhopal, Ahmedabad, Pune, Lucknow, Kolkata, Bareilley and Chandigarh. RPOs/POs in Lucknow, Kolkata, Chandigarh, Delhi, Bhopal, Nagpur, Jammu and Ahmedabad did not destroy large number of passports that were returned undelivered, though this is mandatory.

"The absence of proper accounting and timely destruction of these passports could have serious implications, including possible misuse," it said. It said blank travel documents (passport booklets, visa stickers) went missing in transit while being supplied to 16 missions/Posts from the India Security Press, Nasik. The blank travel documents received by 10 missions/Posts/RPO were found damaged, it said.

Remedial measures

Suggesting a slew of recommendations for remedying the position, the CAG said proper records must be kept for receipt, destruction and balance of Returned Undelivered (RUD) passports.

The provisions made in the Passport Manual 2001 in respect of RUD passports should be adhered to strictly, it said, adding that the MEA should institute efficient internal control system to ensure full compliance with rules concerning impounding/revoking of the passport and determine accountability for non-compliance.

The MEA needs to modify the software system so as to show uniform and latest status of a passport wherever it appears in the system.

The Home Ministry should persuade the state police authorities to create a separate cell to handle police verification of passport related matters within the prescribed time. It noted that the missing and damaged travel document should be probed thoroughly and also reported immediately to the concerned security agencies, MEA, MHA and other authorities to avoid their misuse.

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CAG raps Home, External Affairs Ministries