Only 40% applicants turn up at Chandigarh Passport Seva Kendra due to Bharat Bandh

Amarjot Kaur

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, September 27

The Samyukt Kisan Morcha’s call for Bharat Bandh had a cascading effect on people seeking passports. Most of them, who were travelling to Chandigarh from Punjab, Haryana and Himachal Pradesh, arrived a day in advance in the city so that they could reach the Passport Seva Kendra (PSK) in the Industrial Area, Phase II, for their appointment, while others had to take odd detours.

I had to tell a lie to reach here. I told the protesters that my daughter had an exam. Only then, they allowed us to go ahead. If I hadn’t come here on Monday, the process of getting a passport would have been delayed by 15 more days. I was left with no choice.— Prem Kumar, a visitor from Rajpura

Regional Passport Officer (RPO) Sibash Kabiraj said only 40 per cent of the total applicants managed to reach the Passport Seva Kendra here today.

He said: “Only 550 applicants showed up at the Passport Seva Kendra out of a total of 1,400 applicants. Even in Ambala, only 300 came out of 700 applicants. We have a waiting of 30-40 days and this is the lowest turnout so far since we resumed service. We even had to shut down our PSK in Ludhiana at 1:30 pm.”

At a makeshift tea stall near the PSK became a hotspot for comfort conversations, where many had arrived way ahead of their time of appointment and waited patiently.

Prem Kumar, who came from Rajpura, said: “It took me two and a half hours to reach here. I set off early in the morning and got here just in the nick of time. I had to find a way through villages”.

He said: “I had to tell a lie to reach here. I told the protesters that my daughter had to appear for an exam. Only then, they allowed us to go ahead. If I hadn’t come here today, the process of getting a passport would have been delayed by 15 more days. I was left with no choice.”

A father-daughter duo sitting on a cement slab said they had travelled from Mansa to the city on Sunday.

Gurinder Singh (44), who accompanied his brother Amandeep for his passport application, started from Ludhiana at 4 am. “We reached Chandigarh at 6 am. The appointment was at 12:30 pm. I was inconvenienced, but I support farmers and I’m against the farm laws. It’s better to suffer now than suffering forever.”

Damanjit Singh, who came from Mohali for his the renewal of his passport, said: “I had to take odd routes to reach here. I support farmers and am of the opinion that the farm laws are draconian, but you can’t make general public suffer for a problem you have with the government. A middle ground must be sought. This is not for the first time and today’s a weekday. It’s when people have to go out and work.”