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International News

India Takes Background Checks Over The Edge

May 13, 2013 posted by Steve Brownstein

Imagine a child who hasn't learnt to walk or talk being asked to submit an affidavit stating he has no criminal record or any case pending in court. That is what exactly happened to Ghaziabad resident Sridevi Iyer, when she applied for a passport for her 10-month-old son in February this year.

"It was terrible. We visited the Ghaziabad Passport Seva Kendra on February 21. We had applied under Tatkal and the PSK demanded a standard affidavit (annexure I) duly signed by a notary. It was ridiculous. How can you ask a child to declare that he has no criminal record?"

She and her husband visited the PSK again on February 22 with the affidavit, but they were again turned away. "We were asked to produce a verification certificate (annexure F) issued by a competent authority. Both these documents are not part of the list of papers required for minors as per the website. When we asked why this information was not given in the website, we were told that the 'website is not duly updated'," Iyer said.

Iyer said she had to go to the PSK a third time on March 1 to finally submit the application. "We were told that the passport would arrive in a week," she said.
 

The problems do not stop there, as Sridevi Iyer found out. "Even after 10 days, the passport didn't arrive; but a policeman did, for verification. Under Tatkal, verification happens after you get the passport. The policeman demanded money for "chai-paani", and threatened to mark a negative report if we didn't comply. We meekly obliged," she said.

But the passport still didn't come, Iyer said. "When we checked with the office, we were told that police verification was pending. We finally got the passport on April 10 — 50 days after we applied," Iyer said.
 

Why are documents not mentioned as mandatory on the passport website demanded from applicants? "The Passport Act says that an official may ask for additional documents for his satisfaction. It's an important document so caution has to be exercised while granting a passport. But yes, we are aware that there have been many grievances. People can approach the grievance cell, or write to me if they have issues," said Muktesh Kumar Pardeshi, chief passport officer.