Union Minister for External Affairs Sushma Swaraj has assured a delegation of Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) parliamentarians from here that the Regional Passport Office, Malappuram, will continue to function for six more months.
She has further offered to review the decision to close down the passport office.
The delegation of MPs comprising P.K. Kunhalikutty, E.T. Mohammed Basheer, and P.V. Abdul Wahab met Ms. Swaraj at her office in Delhi on Wednesday and submitted a memorandum against shutting down the passport office catering to the country’s highest passport-density district.
The MPs pointed out that the Malappuram Passport Office earned ₹319 crore in less than a year from October 27, 2016 to September 20, 2017.
“In terms of revenue, Malappuram has been the largest passport office in the country after the Mumbai office. It won the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) award for the best passport office in B-category in 2015 and 2017,” they said.
They also pointed out that the passport office, which began in 2006 and used to process 1,250 applications a day, had achieved many firsts in the country.
“The mobile application for police verification introduced recently was one of the achievements of the Malappuram passport office,” they said.
The Central government had closed down the Malappuram Passport Office and merged it with the Regional Passport Office, Kozhikode, on grounds of administrative convenience and better financial management.
The staff were transferred to Kozhikode and the furniture and other office accoutrements shifted from here. However, an MEA faux pas made the authorities to extend the last date of the closure till December 31.
Ms. Swaraj’s assurance has given the passport office a reprieve. But officials said restoration of a full-fledged passport office here would be unlikely. P. Ubaidulla, MLA of Malappuram, has offered ₹1 crore for construction of an own building for the passport office here.
