So this whole thing about being there in person for your passport submission is humbug. Recently at the passport office i.e. glorious Pune, I witnessed a couple of things.
1) No inquiry for senior citizens who remain baffled with the online form procedure. The official who fills out the form is rude and illiterate and asks you to stand in front of a board which has the format and fill out details which he will then fill. Imagine the plight of old people and the computer illiterate.
2) Agents can still submit forms. In fact they do it after 1p.m approaching passport counter officials from behind the desk whereas stupid (read will submit their own form) still wait patiently in queue.
3) Infrastructure offers no drinking water or toilets while people wait old, women and children plus the ones who wait for loved ones who are inside.
4) Peons and guards think they are talking to cattle instead of human beings. They salaam the agents though of course.
5) Officials take leisure lunches.
6) There is no space for queue - average queue time 3 hours outside and 11/2 hour inside with no space to rest your legs while office clerks and officers lunch.
7) There is no verification counter to check documents which Mumbai has. This affords people some respite from the adhoc form requirement system.
8) Your old passport xerox is not proof enough for the passport office. They will not accept ration cards as address proof. Bank statement on the other hand are sure shot proof that you exist. If anyone knows the ease with how bank accounts can be opened and addresses transferred, its a huge joke.
My advice is hire an agent. India is not ready for a transparent system. The government should stop pretending to run a transparent system or pay their officials enough for them not to turn to bribes.
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