As the first country in South Asia and 119th in the world, e-passport was officially launched in the country on January 22 in 2020 with a view to bring passport service to the doorsteps of people.
After a year now, people of Kishoreganj can avail e-passport without any hassle alike people of other districts of the country and they are absolutely delighted with this hassle-free service, provided by the government. According to Kishoreganj Regional Passport Office sources, 4,798 people in the district have applied for e-passport so far. Of these, passports of 3,286 people have already been printed.
The e-passport service was launched keeping in mind that ordinary people should not be harassed when they go to the passport office. A person can get an e-passport sitting at home, informed the Regional Passport Office sources.
It is known that Rohingyas and illegal residents have been making Bangladeshi passports with fake names and addresses through brokers for a long time. Electronic passport or e-passport will work as an alternative to prevent this.
Concerned officials said, there is a data base to identify Rohingyas as well as each passport applicant is interviewed by the authorities which makes it easier to identify Rohingyas and illegal residents. If one makes an e-passport with NID and birth registration information, all the legal information will could be checked from the official database instantly. As a result, there is no scope for irregularities or fraud in this process.
With the E-passport services it is possible to easily stop citizens of different countries, including those associated with militancy from using Bangladeshi passports to tarnish the image of this country.
Mohammad Anisur Rahman, Assistant Director of Kishoreganj Regional Passport Office said e-passport service is increasing acceptability of Bangladeshi passports abroad and will further facilitate foreign travel and immigration, as it ensures strong security. He further said that the e-passport service is gaining popularity among people as it provides a hassle-free process and people can easily avail the passport sitting at home.