Harrowing experience obtaining a passport

Finally I applied for a passport. This should have been done a lot earlier but I was lazy enough not to even think about it. I should have though "I am a professional and would need a passport sometime in my life"
The rules in India for obtaining a passport seem to be evolving but at a snails pace. Obtaining a passport being a prerogative of the government it runs according to the whims and fancies of the babus at the helm.There seem to be different rules at different places and nobody is well versed with these.India is a global economy or rather is fast becoming a globalised economy but the bureaucracy still persists. Yes, I have seen some changes in this bureaucratic state of affairs which is a whiff of fresh air,but these changes are really to a certain part of the monolith and it appears spreading in the govt wee bit slowly. I am not aware what procedure is followed for obtaining a passport in other countries but it should be somewhat similar less the bureaucracy.
So why is obtaining a passport so difficult. Here is an account of the same which includes my own application for a pasport (still waiting as of this writing).

First stand in a long queue and apply for the passport. This is just the first step. You are given a date on which you are required to submit/verify the originals. There is only one office where all the applications for Mumbai are accepted. Considering Mumbai is the financial capital there should be multiple cells for passport clearances. Here your graduation counts and not your professional degrees. I am a CA myself and this has no worth in the passport application.
Then comes the Police verification.

Firstly keep in your mind that you are a fraud/criminal. Yes this is the way the Police looks at you even though you may be the most honest citizen of India. So before going for the Police verification consider yourself as the most dreaded criminal or fraud and then go to the Police station. (Agreed the Police are doing their duty and they have every right to suspect you, but you could suspect one and still be helpful enough and not arrogant)

The trouble for me started here. A hawaldar came to my house verified my ration card/birth certificate and purposefully found some error on my ration card (which is not an error at all)
after almost 15 minutes he gave me a letter which stated that I was to report to the police station on 25/9/05 a Sunday. This document is barely readable. In this document is mentioned the timings when police verification is carried out. In this also it is mentioned that Monday is a holiday for passport police verification. This is not readable at all. I was happy till this moment. I could not make it to the Police station on Sunday and so I went on monday where I was told that it was closed on Monday and that my application was sent back as I had not reported on Sunday.

This was the most frustrating moment I had faced in my life. This is totally unacceptable. It is always possible that due to unavoidable circumstances one may not report for verification and a period of 3-4 days grace should be given. This is mentioned on the unreadable document given to me but this rule is not followed due to increasing volume of work.
Now I have to apply again and the whole thing will take another month. I have reapplied again on 11/10 and am still waiting for a call from the police station. Wonder of wonders you do not get an acknowledgement for the reapplication so I do not have any proof.
Another wonder if any documents are misplaced by passport office they are not at fault you are the one who are unlucky and at fault as you want to travel abroad

One really good experience I had was with the Police helpline. Well, i could not imagine such a service can exist in this bureaucratic jungle. They answered all my queries and that too in Marathi? Great stuff Police

One thing I was surprised was that every person (friend/relative etc) whom I inquired with about the passport process and what had happened with me told me a different story. So the rules are as per the whims and fancies of each police station at each locality. I stay in a suburb in Mumbai. In my locality it takes at least 35-40min to for a police verification as they agin check your originals.
Also there is another rule that you have to sign before the saaheb i.e the inspector. So if the saaheb is not there it is further delayed.

Why do we need such a cumbersome and lengthy process.
Some suggestions.

1. Establish a set of standard rules and guidelines to be followed by each one of the persons involved in the passport application process. In framing these take help of experts.
2. Reduce the amount of paperwork involved.
3. Set timeframes for completion of each process.
4. Establish independent cells preferably manned by Police at various locations in the suburbs to ease the rush
5. Ensure transperancy of the full passport issuing process.
6. Establish set rules and regulations to be followed for non availability of documents to be submitted.
   

With the above in place I would not mind if my passport got delayed and I am given reasons for the delay.
Maybe I will get the passport in 2006 or never at all...................
Maybe someday somebody will read this and change will take place..........

Maybe, Maybe ...................................................................................