At least 39,000 passport applications are pending in Bihar because of acute shortage of manpower. On an average, the Patna passport office receives 16,000 applications per month of which 30 per cent of the applications are from the two districts of Siwan and Gopalganj.
Normally, it takes at least three months to issue passport to an individual.According to a rough estimate, the pending list has touched approximately 39,000 till November-end. Out of the total 90 sanctioned staff, only 45 are on the rolls here which has caused delay in issuing the passports. The existing sanctioned posts were allotted way back in 1997.
"Since then, the work load here in issuing passports has increased four fold," says newly appointed passport officer Anand Kumar.
Kumar, who is an Indian Railway Account Service (2000) cadre, joined as the new passport officer here only on Tuesday.
"There is also a lack of infrastructural facility here. We have only two existing passport printing machines out of the total requirement of four. We have already written to the ministry of external affairs (MEA) to increase the number of machines," Kumar said.
He said the existing daily passport issuing capacity was only 450 as against the normal capacity of 700. "Right now we have only two passport issuing officials here as against the normal requirement of four," Kumar said.
Asked about the corrupt practises in issuing passports, Kumar said he would utilize his experiences in the railways in dealing it corrupt practices and touts. Kumar, who hails from Buxar district, had also worked in various various other centres including Ambala Cantt., Lucknow and Delhi for the railways prior to joining the passport office here.
"I am committed to check corrupt practises in the passport office. I'll certainly utilize my vast experiences in the railways to contain corruption. First, I will have to streamline my internal system," Kumar said.
The two districts of Siwan and Gopalganj still maintain their top position in applying for passports. "Out of the total 16,000 applications for passports per month, nearly 5,330 come from these two districts alone," he said.
For the issuing of Tatkal passports, "we normally take one week to deliver the passport. But most of the applicants do not provide the copy of identity card. It is now essential to provide a copy of I-card for issuing passport," Kumar said.link
Showing posts with label Gopalganj. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Gopalganj. Show all posts
Thursday 3 December 2009
Tuesday 14 July 2009
Two lynched in Gopalganj and Aurangabad districts over theft, molestation charges
Two men, one accused of molesting a girl and the other a suspected thief, were lynched by mobs in Bihar's Gopalganj and Aurangabad districts, police said on Tuesday.
A man, identified only as Shivnath, was beaten to death on Monday evening in Shahpur village in Gopalganj by family members and neighbours after a girl alleged that he had tried to molest her.
"Shivnath was caught when he was trying to escape after a girl cried that he tried to molest her. Family members and neighbours beat him to death him with bamboo sticks and iron rods," a police official said.
Relatives of the victim lodged a case with the police, naming seven people as the accused. Two people have been arrested, police said.
In the second case, a 25-year-old man was lynched on Monday by a mob near Anugrah Narain Road Station in Aurangabad district on charges of theft. The victim has not been identified by the police.
A case has been lodged against the unidentified people who lynched him, an official said.
In rural Bihar, street "justice" is becoming increasingly common. Over 50 cases of lynching were reported from the State over the last four months.
In one of the worst cases of lynching in Bihar, 10 people from the underprivileged Kueri community were thrashed to death in Vaishali district over an alleged theft in September 2007. Later, a high-level probe found that the men were not thieves as the villagers had suspected. link
A man, identified only as Shivnath, was beaten to death on Monday evening in Shahpur village in Gopalganj by family members and neighbours after a girl alleged that he had tried to molest her.
"Shivnath was caught when he was trying to escape after a girl cried that he tried to molest her. Family members and neighbours beat him to death him with bamboo sticks and iron rods," a police official said.
Relatives of the victim lodged a case with the police, naming seven people as the accused. Two people have been arrested, police said.
In the second case, a 25-year-old man was lynched on Monday by a mob near Anugrah Narain Road Station in Aurangabad district on charges of theft. The victim has not been identified by the police.
A case has been lodged against the unidentified people who lynched him, an official said.
In rural Bihar, street "justice" is becoming increasingly common. Over 50 cases of lynching were reported from the State over the last four months.
In one of the worst cases of lynching in Bihar, 10 people from the underprivileged Kueri community were thrashed to death in Vaishali district over an alleged theft in September 2007. Later, a high-level probe found that the men were not thieves as the villagers had suspected. link
Saturday 31 January 2009
Lalu to gift a railway division to his home district
Railways Minister Lalu Prasad is set to gift his home district, Gopalganj in Bihar, a railway division before the next Lok Sabha polls.After Lalu Prasad’s ancestral village Phulwaria is connected with his wife and former chief minister Rabri Devi’s Salar Kalan village, Lalu now plans to give another rare gift to Bihar by announcing the establishment of a railway division in Thawe at Gopalganj.
“Thawe would have a new railway division,” Lalu said Saturday. He was on a visit to his native village Phulwaria and hinted that he would announce the establishment of the division in his last railway budget to be presented later in February.
According to railway officials, Lalu asked senior officials to prepare necessary ground for creation of a new railway division at Thawe in Gopalganj.
Thawe has a railway station at present and is not far from Lalu’s birth place Phulwaria and his wife’s birthplace Salar Kalan.
Thawe railway division will be part of the East Central Railway zone headquarters at Hajipur in Bihar.
Lalu also announced establishing of a new railway division in Bhagalpur. “Both Thawe and Bhagalpur would be headed by divisional railway managers.”
During his five year term as a Railways Minister, Lalu has gifted several projects and dozens of new trains to Bihar. He recently said that the Indian Railways are investing Rs.550 billion (Rs.55,000 crore) in Bihar for execution of various railway projects to usher “a new era of development”. link
“Thawe would have a new railway division,” Lalu said Saturday. He was on a visit to his native village Phulwaria and hinted that he would announce the establishment of the division in his last railway budget to be presented later in February.
According to railway officials, Lalu asked senior officials to prepare necessary ground for creation of a new railway division at Thawe in Gopalganj.
Thawe has a railway station at present and is not far from Lalu’s birth place Phulwaria and his wife’s birthplace Salar Kalan.
Thawe railway division will be part of the East Central Railway zone headquarters at Hajipur in Bihar.
Lalu also announced establishing of a new railway division in Bhagalpur. “Both Thawe and Bhagalpur would be headed by divisional railway managers.”
During his five year term as a Railways Minister, Lalu has gifted several projects and dozens of new trains to Bihar. He recently said that the Indian Railways are investing Rs.550 billion (Rs.55,000 crore) in Bihar for execution of various railway projects to usher “a new era of development”. link
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