Failed delivery

People can get disillusioned with the state if they cannot get good services even at a high cost.

In your home district, from the time you apply for a passport, it takes typically a month to get the passport copy from the district’s administrative office, at a cost of Rs5,000. But for those in a rush, the Department of Passports in Tripureshwor, Kathmandu, pledges ‘fast-track’ delivery within three days, for Rs12,000. Those who need the document urgently—those with tight visa deadlines, for example—throng to the capital from different parts of the country, having to fork out extra money on travel, food and lodging—besides the already high passport charges. However, to their dismay, ‘processing’ can still take as long as a week. The amount they pay doesn’t always guarantee promised service, let alone information and updates on the problems or the resumption of services. The public thus experiences not just an administrative hiccup but also a violation of their right to seamless service delivery in return for the high cost they pay.