Reply from Ministry of External Affairs of an RTI Application regarding number of days it takes to issue a passport in various regions

Through my previous blog posts, you must be knowing that it took almost 9 months for my passport to travel from Lucknow to Kanpur, even Indian Railways are faster than this. After this incidence I decided to file an RTI application to unearth the data of different regions and to find out that which region is working efficiently in processing the passport application.

Application:

1.     How many days it takes for a Normal and Tatkal passport application to process and to issue   a passport in different regions?

2.     How many passports are issued within 3 days, 7 days, 14, days, 21 days and 30 days in case     of Normal Passport and how many passports are issued on the same day, within 2 days and 3   days in case of Tatkal Passport?

Despite the fact that I asked for the time taken in issuing the passport, including Police Verification Time but the reply I got was excluding the Police Verification time which does not provide the clear picture but it's good to open some facts. The reply of the first Question shocked me a little bit, it will specially blow up the people living in the region Coimbatore, Goa, Jalandhar, Jammu and Srinagar where processing time in Tatkal passport is more than Normal Passport and the difference is deeper in the case of Jammu and Srinagar. It is important to look into the reasons behind this, if anyone living in these regions have the answer, please comment, I am eager to know the factors behind these facts provided by the Ministry of External Affairs.

Delhi PSK takes the maximum time in case of Normal Passport which is Bareily in case of Tatkal Passport excluding the PSKs with yellow defaulters. Nagpur and Trivandrum has the least time record in case of Normal passport which is Kozhikode and Trivandrum again in case of Tatkal passport. 

During 2013-2014, the total number of passport printed was 69,89,762. Countrywide, 22% of Normal Passports are issued within 3 days, 53% within 7 days, 75% within 14 days, 86% within 21 days and 91% within 30 days (excluding the time taken for police Verification). In case of Tatkal passport, 14% are issued on the same day, 38% within 2 days and 70% within 3 days. 

It is important to include the Police Verification Time also which will provide a clearer picture and to some extent will be able to answer why in some regions of India passport delivery is delayed by around 8-9 months. If I will get that information through another RTI Application then I will be happier to share the same.