Standing in long chaotic queues to avail of a passport in the state of Goa has become a myth. The credit goes to the current Passport Officer – Agnelo Fernandes for his efficiency and dedication which has made Goa’s Passport Office different from other government departments.
From a Goa Public Service Commission Officer in Charge of municipalities to the Ministry of External Affairs, Fernandes has come a long way dealing with the sensitive issue of passports. Besides being the first Goan to be appointed as Passport Officer in Goa, he is the only Goan officer across India to be appointed for this sensitive post. “I can proudly say that I am the first Goan to be appointed as the passport officer,” says Fernandes.
Speaking to Herald, he revealed what changes he put in place for the smooth flow of work. When queried about the mechanism, he said, “It’s basically team work. Before me, staff here in the office were very limited to their work. They never came out of their comfort zone to make the work convenient for people. However when I took charge, the first thing I set in place was the responsibility of each employee and I made them multi-task. If I can work to make it convenient, then why can’t they do it as well?”
“Meanwhile the police and the post department have done their job well. They have improved tremendously. The Police verify the documents which are submitted by the applicant immediately and the post department delivers the passport on fast track,” he added, claiming no work is carried out manually as everything is done online.
The other day another public figure, realised that he had run out of pages on his passport for his visa to be stamped and his travel agent was not processing his booking for a trip he needed to undertake in two days till he got a fresh passport. He rushed to the passport office to meet the Regional passport Officer, Agnelo Fernandes and presented his case. Guess how much time it took for him to get his fresh passport with all formalities done and everything processed and in order. 45 minutes!! “Since everything was in order, there was no need for fresh verifications and formalities. All this is built into the act and is as per rules. The passport officer can take quick decisions if he wants to. But it is only people like Fernandes who take them,” said the public figure who added that every common man gets treated the same way.
Pointing out the difficulties faced on a daily basis, Fernandes asserted that birth certificates of people born before liberation have their names written in Portuguese, which differs from other documents which are in English. Meanwhile he also pointed out rural marriages which don’t have legal documents to claim them married. He said, “The major problem that we face is about marriage certificates of those who get married in rural areas. They do not carry out any legal proceedings, thus they lack documents to claim they are married even though they insist they are.”
Being Goan, Fernandes has a major advantage in the fact that he knows the state language which helps in explaining facts to people and understanding their views. The people of Goa as well are giving a positive feedback for the smooth flow of work without much trouble.
