People’s harassment in getting passports may reduce significantly as the department of immigration and passport has signed an agreement with the Election Commission to gain access to the national database according to which national identity cards are made.
Passport applicants face huge hassles, sometimes harassment from the police who have been authorised to verify the data provided by the people. The passport department in many cases delays issuing passports on the pretext of not getting police verification.
Allegations are rife that the officials assigned for police verification collect money from the people applying for passports while many non-Bangladeshis such as Rohingyas had managed Bangladeshi passports in exchange of money.
According to a paper placed at the yesterday’s meeting of the parliamentary standing committee on home ministry, the department of immigration and passport had inked the deal with the commission to have access to the national database.
This will stop the practice of giving misinformation in the applications by the applicants, says the paper the Dhaka Tribune obtained.
Home Secretary CQK Mustaq Ahmed told the Dhaka Tribune: “This (passport department’s access to the national database) will of course reduce the alleged harassment or hassles in getting passports. We very often get allegations of harassment in the name of police verification.”
He said: “From now, the passport department can easily gain access to the national database to verify the data provided by the applicants. Police verification will be redundant in most of the cases [for the persons above 18 years of age].”
The secretary said the police should only verify whether the applicants were the nationals of Bangladesh.
“Anyone facing trial will automatically be stopped at the airport or other immigration points, but they have right to get passports.”
He said the passport and immigration wing had simplified the procedures for getting passports.
“If the police fail to send verification reports within 15 days, then the passport and immigration wing will issue passports to the applicants,” he said.
The Election Commission provides national identity cards to the citizens above 18 years. The police will verify the applications filed by the persons below 18 years until national database contained the data on all nationals.
The passport wing’s working paper reads that the applicants can now file applications for passports online. Use of information technology will enable the applicants to check whether their passports are ready.