Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina yesterday said her government has planned to introduce 'electronic passports' to ensure safe and hassle-free foreign travels of people, reports UNB. The Prime Minister said this while addressing a function after inaugurating the newly-constructed buildings of divisional passport and visa office as well as nine regional passport offices along with the Passport Service Week 2016 at the Department of Immigration and Passports at Agargaon in the capital. She said Biman Bangladesh Airlines has been asked to introduce e-ticketing since the Machine Readable Passports (MRPs) and Machine Readable Visas (MRVs) are already in use. “The e-ticketing is aimed at reducing harassment of passengers and corruption to a large extent.”
With the inaugurations of such office buildings, the people of those concerned areas need not to come to Dhaka as they will be able to get their passports from their respective areas, the Prime Minister said. Recalling how she got passport back in 1969, Hasina said she had to take permission from Karachi for having a passport and had to travel all the way to Karachi to collect it to go to Italy. “Now, we’ve got our own country, our own passports and thus travel abroad. This has been possible since Bangabandhu liberated this country.” The Prime Minister said since the use of MRPs has became indispensable for international tour after November 24, 2015 following the recommendation of the International Civil Aviation Organisation, her government faced this challenge successfully providing MRPs to expatriate Bangladeshis before the deadline expired. She extended her heartfelt thanks to the officials and employees of Department of Immigration and Passports for successfully issuing some 1.40 lakh MRPs and 3.26 lakh MRVs so far which is an epoch-making step in the country’s history.
Hasina, however, took a swipe against those media that had doubted that the government would not be able to issue MRPs to such huge expatriate Bangladeshis within the deadline. “I hope when they criticise us, they should also appreciate our good works.”
The present government, she said, has been very cautious about the welfare of around 90 expatriate Bangladeshis living abroad.The Prime Minister called upon all, irrespective of their professions, to discharge their respective duties properly. “This country belongs to us and if this country prospers then the future generation will get a better life.”
Referring to the rise in salaries and allowances of public servants by around 123 percent, she said such step was taken so that a family could move ahead transparently staying away from corruption.
Hasina directed the officials and employees of the Department of Immigration and Passports to render better services to people imbued with motto of serving the country applying their highest efficiency and professionalism.
Terming passport and visa as very essential documents for going abroad, she said her government has been working tirelessly to reach passport services at the doorsteps of people. “Getting passport is the right of the citizens and a very important government service to people.”
Like other sectors, Hasina regretted, the very important passport sector had become the den of corruption and irregularities and gone into the hands of middlemen syndicates during the military regimes after 1975 and during the BNP-Jamaat alliance government.
Highlighting the successes of her government in bringing discipline in the activities of this Department, she said it has achieved unprecedented success over the last seven years. She mentioned that the manpower of this organisation has already been increased to 1,184 from mere 397 while the issue of further increasing its manpower is under the government’s consideration.
Highlighting various steps of her government in modernizing the Department of Immigration and Passports as a Digital one, Hasina said some 52 passport offices have been set up since 2009, while own buildings have been built for 34 offices resulting in easy services to common people. Besides, she said, the state-of-art independent passport personalisation complex is being built at Uttara in the city with Tk 28.89 crore while passport and visa wings have been set up at 65 missions abroad. This service has been reached to people through setting up of 67 passport offices in 64 districts alongside 33 immigration checkpoints. Besides, the government will take necessary steps to arrange international standards training on Passport and Immigration to further increase efficiency of the officials and employees of the Passport Department, she added.
Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan, Jahangir Kabir Nanak, MP, Senior Secretary of the Home Ministry Dr Mozammel Haque Khan spoke on the occasion while Director General of the Department of Immigration and Passports Brigadier General Md Masud Rezwan gave the address of welcome. Later, the Prime Minister inspected the MRP and MRV operations there.