The insensitivity of the Indian bureaucracy

Yesterday, my mother had to go to the local passport office to have her passport renewed. She has had her current passport for 10 years and now needs a new passport to travel. I looked up the web site of the passport office, entered all her data to register for the visit and printed out application neatly. The prep went for a week to collect the supporting documents such as the voter's card, photos, copies of old passport, etc. My wife and kids accompanied her when the day came a little ahead of the appointment time at 9:30 AM.

There was a long line of people, a closed door with a rogue gate keeper peeking out to open the door for the appointment holders. This guy has no training whatsoever. He strictly insisted that only the applicant can go in. My wife tried to explain that my mom needs help with the application process and cannot handle it herself, only to fall in deaf ears. Once inside, my mother was made to wait in a queue, promptly ambushed by the impatient staff at the passport office and sent out after a couple of hours. Their reason was that she needed to show in the application the US address where she stayed a few months in the last year. Not only that they want address proof of that US address! How insane is that? My mom had no clue of what they were asking. There was no explanation or any courteous to a senior citizen. She had to leave the office in anguish after two hours of waiting in the madness of the passport office. My wife meanwhile argues with the gate keeper and finally makes her way in when mom was fed up and coming out. My wife goes in and finds out what they want. But because we filed the application online, there is no way to edit the application! There are "paid volunteers" inside the passport office sitting with a bunch of computers to register the application online right there. However, they cannot edit an existing application, because the website does not support it. So this will be a completely new registration. All that I did for a week is now thrown out and the guy takes the money to register a new application. Of course, there is a queue at every stage and long waiting in grueling hot sun. Most people don't even know that there is a wait counter where you have to take a ticket for your turn. People stand in the queue only to find out that they don't have a ticket when they are in the counter and promptly sent to the back of the line.

Meanwhile my kids are outside with the auto guy in the heat of the mid day. During the wait, my mom comes out and after another fight with the gate keeper gets the kids inside. You can see how duty bound the gate keeper is in his work not allowing a 6 yr old and a 3 yr old inside the passport office when their mom and grandma are inside. Anyway the ordeal comes to climax when they approach the counter to "file" the application, only to be told that their registration takes an hour to update before they can pay the fee. The time is now 1:30 PM; kids go bonkers in the heat and the hunger. Meanwhile a lot more applicants are kicked out the same way as my mom was without proper explanation, guidance or courtesy. Those who can afford go through the "volunteers" to get the job done. Others are clueless and wander talking to anyone who can point them in a direction. It is complete chaos. My wife decides at this time there is no point in waiting for the 'system to update' and decides to leave home. They all come home, have late lunch, get the kids to nap and go back around 3:00 PM. Apparently it was much better at that time after most of those poor applicants were rejected and sent home to continue with their ordeal for another day. My mom was able to pay the fee and get out of their. Will the passport come in the next month? Hope so. There is "police verification" even for renewals. So that could be interesting.