The ordeals at Sylhet passport office
The office receives about 800 applications for passports every day
A visit to the passport office in Sylhet city can result in a dramatic experience for you if you read all the writings on the walls by applicants who have gone through intense sufferings, frustration and even behaviour of the mocking sort.
"Come to this office only if you are bitten by a mad dog," wrote someone.
Another sentence on the same wall reads, "I would never have come here if I had known that I would have to suffer like this."
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When contacted with the mobile number written below the sentence, someone named Quadir Ahmed received the call.
"I wrote it out of extreme frustration while standing in a long queue from 7am to 8pm. It was one of the bitterest experiences of my life," he told The Business Standard over phone.
"I had to stand in the queue the whole day without eating or drinking. I could not go outside for a single moment, afraid someone else would take my place," he said.
All such graffiti on the walls of the office echo almost the same feelings with the same desperation.
Applicants complain that rampant manipulation by brokers, manpower shortage and frequent technical glitches have paralysed the services of Sylhet passport office, causing them immense sufferings.
However, passport officials say that the number of applicants has increased in recent times with the opening of the world labour market after the Covid-19 pandemic. The number of students going abroad for educational purposes has also increased.
"We are now struggling to cope with this extra pressure," they said.
More than 400 people, including women and children, were seen standing in four long queues in and outside the passport office in the early hours of 29 October. Suddenly, screams were heard from one of the queues.
"We have been standing here since the morning waiting to submit applications. But some people are submitting applications from outside the queue. They are not maintaining the serial," said Shoeb Ahmed, who had come there to get a passport.
There are allegations that a broker syndicate has been very active in the passport office, helping people getting quick services in exchange of money, thus bypassing the regular procedures.
Many complain that the brokers put a special mark on the application forms that they deal with and the passport officials accept them without any delay. They generally reject other applications without that mark, showing various excuses.
"My application has been cancelled for not writing the 'given name'. But many applications with the same mistake are being accepted as they are submitted via the brokers," said Shakil Ahmed Chowdhury, a UK expatriate.
Many people try to submit applications in the office through travel agencies to avoid harassment. An applicant, who does not want to be named, said that he paid Tk2,000 to an agency to complete all the procedures.
Abdul Jabbar Jalil, former president of the Association of Travel Agents Bangladesh, Sylhet office, told The Business Standard, "Many people complain about the harassment of brokers at the passport office. Passport office officials should take initiatives to solve the issue."
However, Mazharul Islam, director of Divisional and Regional Passport Office, Sylhet, denied that brokers exercised influence in the office.
"I monitor everything through close circuit cameras. Now there is no irregularity in the office. However, people are facing some problems due to the immense pressure of applicants," he said.
He also said that many applicants cannot fill in the necessary documents with accurate information and their applications eventually get rejected as even a single misspelling in the names must be corrected for an e-passport.
"Most of the applicants suffer delays due to these problems. They blame us for their own mistakes. Everyone must provide accurate information to get a passport," Mazharul Islam said.
There are also complaints about manpower shortage and technical glitches in the passport office which frustrate people frequently.
Deep Das, a young artist from Sylhet, said that he had to stand in a queue for two days to get a passport due to technical failures.
"I was standing in the queue from morning to 9:30pm the previous day. After standing in line for the whole day, we were told that the server was down. The next day I stood in the queue again at 7am. Then around noon my photograph and fingerprint were taken."
Passport officials say that they are working with a severe manpower shortage, which is affecting their services.
"There are 32 posts in this office but currently we are doing all the work with only 19 employees. The posts of DAD, accountant and some operators are still vacant," said Mazharul Islam, the director.
"We also face frequent technical glitches like server crashes, network problems, etc. If these things do not work properly, the whole process gets disrupted," he said.
Mazharul Islam further said, "We receive about 800 applications per day. I have never seen such pressure in my twenty-year career. But I do not have enough manpower and the accessories to handle this pressure."
