A letter has been sent to the Dhaka passport office to stop corruption, nepotism, and irregularities, and introduce a token system for service seekers.
This letter was sent to the director of the Dhaka Divisional Passport and Visa Office by Supreme Court lawyer Md Abu Taleb on Thursday.
The letter asked authorities to stop corruption, nepotism, and irregularities to reduce the suffering of people who go to the office for passport and visa-related issues.
The letter also demanded to stop the practice of making the service seekers stand in queues for hours and introduce a modern token system that would display serial numbers on a digital board.
Moreover, the letter asked authorities to provide proper seating arrangements, free food, and drinking water for the service seekers.
Describing his experience, Supreme Court lawyer Md Abu Taleb said he went to the Dhaka passport office on Tuesday, at a pre-arranged time, to provide his and his family members' fingerprints and photographs for passports.
However, he said he had to stand in the queue for almost two hours before getting a serial number and again had to wait in line for the documents to be verified by an officer.
He claimed he had to wait till 6pm in a room and complete the process.
Addressing the director of the passport office, the lawyer wrote: "The overall mismanagement of your office has caused me great pain.”
At present, many government offices, private banks and insurance offices have introduced token systems where service seekers get tokens and get service when their serial number is shown on digital boards or screens, reads the letter.
The letter requested that the passport office notify the measures and initiatives taken in writing within the next 15 days, otherwise, a case will be filed in court against all parties involved.
