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My passport was on the verge of expiry,so I approached the travel agent,I was informed that they send it in lots and the next lot will be  sent after two months,professional service charges rs.500 over and above the fees. I had two options either wait for two months or submit the documents myself,anyway I am  fairly educated so filling of forms were no  hassle and the office being computerised I knew that within the two months I would get my passport  It would just  involve going to the passport office once to submit  the necessary documents as stipulated,so I opted for the latter option.Well I thought I would save a big chunk of the  Rs.500 payable to the agent and gain the experience at the same time, well what a frustating  experience, I am writing this so that others may know what to expect and dont let their frustation make them  take a short cut to heaven without a passport.

Stage one : fill form with details,get a computerised number,visit passport office with sets of relevant documents which are verified against originals prior to accepting them.

Stage two. Police called me  to the chowky verified the documents submitted to the authorities,asked for additional documents,like society letter or allotment letter(share certificate of society)  I told them that the passport authorities did not ask for the societies letter and obtaining one will take time they agreed for share certificate after telling me that we are the police and not the passport officials and we have  our own way of functioning. This involved three trips to the chowky   as I was told the concerned person has gone on bandobast duty which is given priority  to verification, asked to buy two sets of forms from xerox shop then given a letter to the police station which asked for documents all  over again,when I informed that I have submitted the same to the chowky I was told that those are for the chowky records,it made me wonder whether the chowky is a part of the police station  then they are supposed to send the information obtained by them or  if  it functions as a seperate body , functioning independently of the police station then why do I need to  go to the police station after verification is done at the chowky.

Any way I go to the police station and after going through the relevant documents was asked  to submit societies letter and also told that I will be called for an interview by the police Inspector,I thought have I come for verification of documents or a police job, anyway obtaining the societies  letter took time and in the meantime my file was sent back till today I am in the dark as to the remark put by the police to reject my application.

After waiting patiently for over 16 weeks I  enquired with the police helpline  and was informed  that I need to  fill fresh personal perticulars   so I go to the  passport office at bengal chemical building the place I had submitted my form,to my surprise I was told to go to the old passport office ,thereI was informed by the clerk at the enquiry counter that police verification is pending soI started  to corresponded with the passport office. They informed me to meet the PRO with relevant documents  and fill a fresh p.p.form.From August 2006 toMarch 2007,Seven months had elapsed I never knew what is happening,I submitted more documents then called for with the hope the matter will be expedited. The process of chowky and police station was repeated with the submission of documents at both places, this time when they insisted for societies letter I was ready, but Iwas told that even if all documents are in order the inspector will not sign the form without a personal interview and the case will be rejected,  It took me two trips to the station waiting for more then three hours each time for the Inspector to come , alongwith a horde of people waiting for the interview before I could  be  Interviewed. The Inspector was in a foul mood and was bad mouthing a senior citizen who was pleading in another matter, it was shocking behaviour  and they say the police are being sensitised, what a waste of public money,I prayed his tension will not spill over me.I looked at the board showing the list of documents required,  no where  an Interview as a Pre-requisite was mentioned. In fact it was mentioned procedure  will be completed within a weeks time if all documents are in order,who decides the documents the central govt through the passport office or the state govt through  the police, what exactly police verification means I was at a loss to understand, I looked at a piece of paper pasted outside the window of the police station which had the number of the Anti corruption bureau,sorely tempted to call  but what  could I say here was harrassment but they were not asking for money,I was sorely  being compelled with their red tapism to offer money ,I realised that ACB can try to curtail corruption not control red tapism, and it dawned on me that a mere  constable has the powers to ruin my life and his superior officer stands in support of his actions or how could they behave in this manner,aren’t they afraid of their seniors, I was at a loss  eight months has elapsed and I am still waiting for my pasport,praying that nobody commits suicide in the meantime due to self induced stress. Instead of telling me the reason for the delay on their part ,The police chowky,the police station officer and the Inspector asked me the same question ie as to why was the case reopened .What can I answer but wait patiently and hope that the government take strong corrective measures against such personnel or hands the verification to an outside agency who can be made accountable for their actions.

 According to reports a youth  Anil alias Amin Bhoi,Looking for easy money murdered his colleague at chembur,after robbing the grocery store where he was working of  Rs. 70000 /-The police followed his trail to Orissa and back and finally arrested him at Borivli station after three months following a tip off.

“   Some  people  put their  jobs and reputation  in jeopardy by looking to supplement their incomes by way of bribes to do the jobs they are being paid for , then there are others like Amin who  jeopardize their freedom  and future for easy money”

According to news reports one Mr. Babu Chate had sold his   farm land to the Maharashtra State Government in the year 1982 and had received a part payment  as  an advance .  Babu had no option but to move the court to recover his balance amount from the Government for  the sale proceeds of his land due to the delay in payment.In the year 1992 the Court passed an Order directing the State to pay him Rs.1.28 lakhs as payment.Babu waited for 14 years more for the payment to be made as per the court order,and finally sought for an attchment of  the Collectors office property which can be sold to raise the funds to pay Babu.The said prayer was granted by the court if the Government failed to pay the amount due and payable within a stipulated time frame.What happens to the Officials who have caused stress and anguish to Babu during his long ordeal is not clear,do they get away scotfree to harrass  other   people like Babu who do not have the capacity to fight or the tenecity to see thing to the end.

  There are some  misguided people who in the name of Religion  aid and abet acts of terrorism ,by  exploding bombs in densely populated areas , public transport ,like  trains ,buses ,etc causing grave harm to life and property,in the resultant investigations  names of the minority community members come to the fore ,and the police go  on an overdrive mode and all and sundry  remotely connected or suspected are targetted so that these acts are not repeated in the future.Then there are some people of the majority community who under the guise of celebrating Holi the festival of colours instead of celebrating among their groups, target the general  public commuting in trains and buses, with Baloons filled with chemically  coloured water, causing injuries to eyes, which may result in loss of sight,staining their clothes rendering the clothes non usable,and prevents them from attending to the functions they have set out to perform,like going to office further resulting in loss of pay for daily wage  earners. Many of the peoples liberty is curtailed as they are afraid to move out of their homes even on pressing matters as there is a feeling of fear and insecurity in their minds. The worst part is BEST buses are being targetted on the main roads of the Western Express Highway  between Vile parle and Andheri and to cap it all nor a single policeman can be seen on the road to deter these people from their acts of terrorising the public in the name of a festival, The fear of the police,their threats to take action on the perpetrators so also their outreach programs  with the community seems to have fallen on deaf  ears, the absence of policemen on the road gives  an impression that the police have gone on a Holi-day while the Baloon Terrorist are at play.

There are laws in statute books that says Rs. 500/- fine. or 3 months Imprisonment, or both for illegal closure of Companies , or any such related matters. The management violate these laws with impunity knowing that no judge has ever imprisoned any Director of a company and will be reluctant to pass such an order. The maximum punishment may be several warnings followed by a penalty.This penalty amount is absorbed by the shareholders by way of lesser dividends,and does not have any impact on a company,even if the said penalty is recovered from the concerned executive pay he will be reimbursed by the company for the same. The affected workmen bear the brunt of the illegal closure by loss of wages/livelihood,loss of self esteem,sometimeseven loss of life due to depression.

The Calcutta courts sentencing high ranking officers to imprisonment as per provisions of law is a trend setter and a warning not only to the police officials but all the company directors and others  that the court can and will exercise its rights to give the  maximum punishment it deems fit as to the nature and circumstances of the  violations of law committed.

There are a number of flyovers built with the intention of reducing traffic congestion,  by maintaining a certain speed limit. The  concerned authorities have developed a build and forget attitude,as many of these are in a bad shape with potholes,no proper alignment between joints resulting in scooters,auto rickshaws,etc having to  abruptly slow down to negotiate the joints  to avoid damage to vehicle or injury to the passengers,this sudden slowing down poses a hazard to the other speeding vehicles from behind, which may crash into the slowing vehicles causing injury or death to many.

The roads at various  traffic junctions are in a very bad shape,for example near hospital, this diverts the attention  of  vehicle drivers especially two wheelers from observing the signals to observing the road and negotiating the potholes.The  traffic police are well aware of these conditions and instead of being there to guide the public hide themselves and appear just in time to catch the unsuspecting driver for breaking the signal. This seems to be a good way of taking advantage of the  bad road conditions for earning revenue.

For a man accused and arrested  as a serial killer based on his past record,with no friends or  moneyed family to take up cudgels in his favour,with emphasis laid on the tests conducted on him,ignoring the statement made by his wife that her husband Kantrole may be a drug addict but not a killer,and  a petition signed and submitted to the concerned authorities  by a group of people who knew kantrole as a person , Ravindra Kantrole could have rotted in custody for a crime he never may have  commited. It is very easy to put the blame on someonewho has no body to defend him and  statistically show the crime as solved, to ease the presure of investigation,which is a time consuming   affair  and treat the case as solved, and that would have precisely happened if  Mr. Sushan Kunjaraman (Advocate) had not petitioned the  State  Human rights commission to investigate the matter. Even though the serial killings have continued after the arrest of Kantrole  instead of giving him the benifit of the doubt and admiting that there could be a flaw in their investigations, the police came up with the theory that he has an accomplice.Kantrole’s innocence or guilt will be decided by the court in due course,but till such time as the real killer is loose the public live in fear,and the question is will the police be punished for trying to frame a person, if Kantrole is indeed proved innocent.

A passport was submitted,as a family of three father mother and adult son.The verication was done within the stipulated time, of all three, and the parents, passport has been, received, but the sons passport has not been received till date,(more than six months)Passport officials say not recd police verification report,
How long can the police take to submit the police verification report, Dont they have a time limit, to send it back to the passport office with in a stipulated time. what is verification all about,do the police need to call the applicant time and again to the chowky asking for additional documents,even though documents have been submited  to the passport office as per the criteria  and norms laid down  by the concerned authorities and  the same needs to be verified,after completing the formalities at the chowky, do we have to submit fresh copies to the concerned policestation,isnt it the duty of the chowky personnel to forward the same to the policestation,do we need to go for an interview to the inspector incharge prior to re-issuance of passport,are these the new norms or do the police decide and establish their own set of norms for passport verification. I was given to understand by a legal practitioner that police verification is to be conducted in such a manner  that even the applicant is not aware that it has been conducted. Can the police delay the verification indefinitely with out having the curtsey to inform the applicant regarding any reasons for the delay.The newspaper carried an article  recently wherein a businessmans passport was sent to him by the passport official but the police confiscated the same on grounds of it being given to him without police verification of his address,the superiors just dont seem to know whats happening lower down the rung of heirarchy and the public are the sufferers .Even afte being caught and punished  for corruption,rape,dereliction of duty they dont seem to get the message.there is rampant abuse of power and apathy in performing their normal duties without an incentive.They expect the public to run behind them while they sit tight on their butt even on a procedure like verification

There are leaders,who in the name of religion,and God,collect crores of rupees, the latest technique used is  1% of the monthly salary, collected every month,although they  say that it is not compulsory,announcements are made on a regular basis,and people who are  not paying can be easily identified,People pay for different reasons, can afford ,due to guilt or shame that what will people think about me, or mass psychology that others are doing it so must I,what ever the reason, does this collection of funds amounts to  a subtle form of coercion or  dual taxation, although the amounts are allocated for various welfare schemes,  is it justified to collect such  large  sums by taking advantage of your beliefs,  There is an incident of a catholic  man a bachelor  turned blind , was thrown out of his rented house by force by his landlord, in fort area running from pillar to post, approached the institution who never took any steps to help in trying to restore his house as his was an isolated case , and they are too busy building the community ,there could be many more cases like him. There are so many catholics living in slums in abject poverty whose  needs are  to be taken of,   I mean by uplifting them not just giving them substitence allowance instead of trying   to convert others to our faith,while the recipients of these funds live  and travel in luxury.