Passport applicants in Bihar drop by half as Covid-19 hits movement abroad

While there were fewer people seeking mobility using rails and roads during Covid-19 period and subsequent lockdowns, those aspiring to migrate outside the country from Bihar also felt the impact of the pandemic. This is reflected in fewer numbers of passports applicants issued from the Regional Passport Office (RPO) in Patna, as compared to last year.

The numbers also point towards the reluctance in people of Bihar to migrate outside the country during the pandemic. The applications from Gopalganj and Siwan, which account for the maximum number of people migrating from Bihar to Gulf countries for work, fell drastically during the Covid period.

According to the figures procured from the RPO, Patna, three districts — Patna, Gopalganj and Siwan — that topped the chart with respect to the number of applications among the 39 districts for the past few years, witnessed almost half the number of passport seekers. The RPO figures have counted Bagaha and Bettiah in West Champaran as two separate districts, taking the count to 39, though the administrative districts are 38.

“While the highest number of applicants, 20,448, was from Siwan district, 19,423 applications were received from Patna, while 16,831 from Gopalganj,” said regional passport officer, PM Sahai.

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He said while 19,536 passports were issued from Patna district, 19,057 from Siwan and third highest of 15,716 from Gopalganj. The total number of passports issued in 2020 was 1,67,722.

The least number of passports (460) was issued from Sheikhpura, followed by 559 in Sheohar and 588 in Lakhisarai. While there were passport seekers in March when the lockdown was imposed, in April, across Bihar, just one person had applied for the passport from Patna. However, from May people started applying for the passport. All through 2020, barring April, May and July, the number of applicants from January to December in Patna was in four digits. While in Siwan and Gopalganj, except April to August, the applicants were in four digits.

An official in the RPO said the situation had normalised around the New Year and people were applying large numbers.

According to Bihar Economic Survey 2019-20, “on an average, the number of passports issued from RPO, Patna, is more than 3 lakh per year,” indicating that during 2020, about half the numbers were applied by the applicants and issued by the RPO.

The survey further stated that during 2018-19, the highest number of passports (41,700) were issued from Siwan, followed by 34,200 from Gopalganj and 34,000 from Patna.

The survey indicated that Bihar accounted for 15 per cent of emigration clearance, which is second highest after Andhra Pradesh (31 per cent) from 2011-16, adding that another indicator of international migration is the number of passport application received and issued by the RPO.

“The highest number of applications for the passport (3,48,300) was received in 2018-19, while the highest number of passports (3,57,600) were issued in 2015-16, followed by 2017-18 (3,39,100),” said the survey.

Labour resource minister Jibesh Kumar could not be contacted despite several attempts, he was busy attending BJP’s training camp at Madhubani.