SRINAGAR: Chairperson of the parliamentary panel on the Ministry of External Affairs, Shashi Tharoor, on Monday said that the committee is concerned about delays affecting passport issuance in Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh.
Talking to reporters, Tharoor, who heads the Department-related Parliamentary Standing Committee on External Affairs, said the panel wants passport delivery services for applicants in J&K and Ladakh to be expedited.
“We are concerned about some of the delays that have been impeding passport issuance in this area, and we have been raising some very strong questions because we want to see improvements and speeding up of passport delivery for applicants in Kashmir, Leh, Srinagar and Jammu,” he said.
Tharoor said the committee had held discussions with different stakeholders regarding passport issuance.
“We already had very serious discussions. We had conversations with the Regional Passport Office, the MEA representative from Delhi, the police and the postal department,” he said.
The MP said it had been a good start to the committee’s visit and that members had four more days in Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh.
“We will see everything and then decide what to put in the report,” he said.
He added that the visiting MPs had found it a very meaningful visit and had held strong and constructive discussions.
Tharoor said the committee is in Jammu and Kashmir to study Indo-Pakistan relations, Sino-Indian relations, and the functioning of passport offices and Passport Seva Kendras.
“I just want to make it very clear this is not a visit about checking conditions in the Kashmir Valley. The committee is here to study three issues: Indo-Pakistan relations, Sino-Indian relations, and the functioning of passport offices and Passport Seva Kendras. These are the only three issues we are studying. We are not here to look at domestic matters; that is not our business. We are the External Affairs Committee,” he said. (KNO)
