Brokers roam in front of passport office at Mansurabad in the port city. Inset, Divisional Passport and Visa office of Chittagong. PHOTO: ANURUP KANTI DAS

Delay in processing to issue Machine Readable Passport (MRP) in Chittagong is causing suffering to the passport seekers as well as making the authorities fail to ensure delivery of passports timely.
Applicants said after depositing the money in the bank for the MRP, the authorities concerned give a date of seven days for data entry and taking the photo. When an applicant goes to the regional passport office on the scheduled date, he or she is to wait there for the whole day, they added.
They said after finishing all the process, passport office gives them a date of one month to collect the passport, which the passport office can not maintain, neither for ordinary nor for urgent ones. Applicants alleged that it encourages brokers as any one processes his passports through them he will get it in time. Brokers have a connection with a section of employees of passport office, the passport seekers added.
An applicant, on condition of anonymity, said he has given Tk 1,400 to a broker for processing as without their cooperation none get the service smoothly. When this correspondent requested him to give the address of the broker, he said the brokers will find you out you, you need not search him.
After a while, a broker approached this correspondent to process a passport through him, ensuring delivery of the passport within the fixed date and timely data entry and taking photo. He said the brokers have a good link with the employees as they get money from the brokers.
Denying the allegation of connection between the employees and the brokers, Md Kafil Uddin Ahmed, director of Chittagong passport office, said outsiders may be involved with brokerage. He said it is not necessary to take help from the brokers or others, because every one is to go to the passport office to submit his or her data entry and receive their passports in person. And, the government has made the rule to curb the corruption, he added.
When asked about the cause of delay in issuing the passport, he blamed it for police verification. He said without police verification they cannot send it to Dhaka to make MRP.
About data processing and taking photo, he said they use developed system for both of these. He said, “It is not necessary take any help from the brokers as all kinds of facilities are here, the process is very easy and transparent and if any one wants he can do it easily.”
He said after finishing all data collection they send it to Dhaka for making MRP. They do here pre-enrolment, bio-enrolment, police verification and rest of the work is done in Dhaka, he said, adding that they deliver the passport immediately after it it comes from Dhaka.
To avoid the delay, the applicants said the processing time will reduce if the MRP is made in Chittagong which will also help stop corrupt practices.
Kafil said establishing one stop service in Chittagong is a matter of government decision.