The Right to Information (RTI) Act seems to be the new weapon of harried passport seekers in Andhra Pradesh. Tired of the unending wait at the Regional Passport Office if they take the regular route, a large number of citizens are now taking the RTI route to the RPO, Secunderabad to get the job done. And fuelling the trend is the impressive success rate with 80% of the applicants who seek updates on the status of their passports under the RTI Act, actually being issued the document within a few weeks of filing the RTI.
And The Times of India has played the crucial role of a messenger, connecting harried citizens with groups that specialize in RTI applications. It's Time to Make a Difference (ITMD) is one of them, which has techies poring over the Reader's Grievances columns of this newspaper and connect with them and suggest they take the RTI route. In 2010, the ITDM group assisted 87 applicants from across the state resort to RTI to get their passports. This figure shot to 108 in the first three months of 2011 alone. "And the numbers are only increasing by the day," admits Panasarama Krishna of ITDM reiterating the impressive results it has yielded, especially over the last couple of years. "Prior to 2008-09, there was little awareness among people about the power of the RTI. Now that they have realized it, citizens are coming all out to make use of the right, even to fight the RPO," Krishna added.
And the many success stories only bring them more hope. One such case is that of IT professional Sudipto Samjdar who resorted to RTI after a relentless wait of over four months for his passport. Having lost all hope, Samjdar half-heartedly filled out an RTI application in March this year seeking an explanation for the delay. He could not believe his luck when two weeks later the passport was delivered at his door step. The RTI reply followed. "For three months since January, the website kept flashing that my passport has been dispatched. But it never arrived then. Once I filed the RTI, I got my passport within days," Samjdar said.
The RTI queries are simple and straight starting from seeking the status of a certain passport application number, followed by a query on the name, designation and telephone number of the RPO staff responsible for processing the same. The RTI applications also seek information on officials delaying their passport and the action taken by the RPO against them for "erring'' to deliver passports on time.
These simple RTI queries have managed to do the unthinkable. And not just in AP, the RTI route to passports is catching up in other parts of the country too. Around 45,000 people across India downloaded it within two years.
And the many success stories only bring them more hope. One such case is that of IT professional Sudipto Samjdar who resorted to RTI after a relentless wait of over four months for his passport. Having lost all hope, Samjdar half-heartedly filled out an RTI application in March this year seeking an explanation for the delay. He could not believe his luck when two weeks later the passport was delivered at his door step. The RTI reply followed. "For three months since January, the website kept flashing that my passport has been dispatched. But it never arrived then. Once I filed the RTI, I got my passport within days," Samjdar said.
The RTI queries are simple and straight starting from seeking the status of a certain passport application number, followed by a query on the name, designation and telephone number of the RPO staff responsible for processing the same. The RTI applications also seek information on officials delaying their passport and the action taken by the RPO against them for "erring'' to deliver passports on time.
These simple RTI queries have managed to do the unthinkable. And not just in AP, the RTI route to passports is catching up in other parts of the country too. Around 45,000 people across India downloaded it within two years.
