Social Audit Cell, a hit among passport applicants

The Social Audit Cell – a recent initiative of Regional Passport Office in Chennai — has come in for praise among passport applicants, as they are able to know the status of their applications and get other information within minutes.

Launched in January this year, the cell provides information on passports to applicants, and in some cases, the reasons for the rejection of the application.

“I had lost my passport and I did not note down the number. Since I cannot apply for a new passport, I approached the cell and found my number from the database,” said S. Mahendran, a native of Gandarvakottai in Pudukkottai.

Another elderly couple from Chennai, who have been waiting for days for information on the status of their applications say, “We had applied and our neighbours told us the police had come for verification when we were away. So, we wanted to know what had happened to our application,” said Fathima Ismail.

Within two months of the cell starting operations, over 2,000 applicants made use of its services.

“We receive over 40 applicants every day and information sought is given to them with prints free of cost,” Regional Passport Officer K. Balamurugan said.

“The Social Audit Cell is almost an RTI cell without charging a fee. The information sought for is given in printed form. It is aimed at helping applicants who are not tech-savvy, especially from the rural areas, or those could not remember the details of their application or existing passports,” he said.

The concept is the brainchild of Mr. Balamurugan who started the initiative in July 2014 during his tenure in Tiruchi, where it continues to function.

Passport office in Puducherry

To a query on when the Passport office in Puducherry would start functioning, he said necessary infrastructure was being set up and the office would commence operations within two months.