Hyderabad, January 17: Roohi Mubashir has vowed never to enter the regional passport office. After running from pillar to post for over two months to get the passport of her daughter renewed, she gave up. ‘‘There are hurdles at each step in that office,’’ she complains.
Fed-up with the treatment meted out to her in the RPO, Roohi, an NRI was forced to get the passports of her children renewed in Abu Dhabi.
They had to specially travel down to Abu Dhabi and get the passports renewed. This family returned to Hyderabad two years ago after spending 14 years in Abu Dhabi.
Express caught up with this Hyderabadi family, who say they have had the most bitter experience of their lives running around the passport office for the work. Though Roohi went around the RPO for two months, the same job was done in Abu Dhabi within five days !
Shaima (10), Mohammed Abdul Hayyan (12) and Mohammed Abdul Dayyan (14) came to Hyderabad from Dubai two years ago along with their mother Roohi Mubashir.
However, their father continued to stay in Abu Dhabi and work in a firm. For the last two years, these three children haqve been studying in a local school here.
Roohi decided to get Shaima’s passport renewed first but ended up having a traumatic time. She then decided to approach the Indian embassy in Abu Dhabi to get the passports renewed for her sons, rather than at the local regional passport office.
“It was a bitter experience to renew a passport from the RPO here for my daughter. The officials said since my daughter’s existing Indian passport was issued by the Indian embassy in Abu Dhabi, we had to take certification either from IAS or IPS or any public representative,’’ Roohi told Express.
“But none of these officials and public representatives were willing to certify by calling it as ‘risky’. After repeatedly pursuing a minister I could finally secure a passport after waiting for months. But it was a horrible experience which no one should undergo,’’ she added.
Her experience made her go to Abu Dhabi for her sons’ passports. “I had flown to Abu Dhabi and approached the Indian embassy and in just five days my sons’ passport was renewed,’’ Roohi said.
When contacted, RPO officials said there is a need for certification from any civil servant or public representative if the application for renewal of passport is applied under tatkal scheme.
“Police verification is a must if an applicant had procured Indian passport abroad and seeks for renewal,’’ an official of RPO said.
–Agencies