Address Problems in India

[Raghav_12]

Recently I had gone to Bhopal passport office to apply for renewal of my passport in person, hoping that would expedite the process. But thanks to bureucracy I couldn't get that despite taking all this pain of going all the way to Bhopal. However, in Passport office I came across this rather interesting argument between one of officers and one applicant. Applicant had put his address in application of passport saying Near A (a landmark), then town name and then District name. However, all supporting documents which he was carrying had address something like Near B (another landmark), then town name and then District name. Now officer declared that application can not be accepted as two addresses are different and can't be verified. On the other hand applicant kept insisting that addresses are same in fact and both landmark A and B are close by :haha::haha:. But passport officer was relentless, which was a stupid thing as he should know like all of us how unorganized address system is in India, barring pockets of Metros. In the end, applicant had to convert his application from Tatkal category to normal one. Question is, can something be done about this? If it can be done, it will improve efficiencies of various department a lot, cutting down on a lot of delays. But knowing the fate of UID project, such kind of project is inconcievable in near future and a vast majority of indians will continue using words like Near, Behind, Opposite, Beside in their address. I mysel dread any form or document where I have to put my permanent address :((

[Crookbond]

Why didn't the man just change the address on the application form to Near B? :dontknow:

[Raghav_12]

Why didn't the man just change the address on the application form to Near B? :dontknow:

Application form was a printout of an application which he had made online sometime back.

[Crookbond]

Application form was a printout of an application which he had made online sometime back.

I'm sure he can schedule another appointment quite quickly. The only solution for this is change of address on form or change of address formats throughout India. If you keep waiting for the latter, good luck.

[Sidhoni]

You came to Bhopal! :woot: How did you like the city?

[Lord]

it wasnt an address problem.it was chai paani problem.if the man offered cash,the application would hv been passed even if the address was from another city

[Raghav_12]

I'm sure he can schedule another appointment quite quickly. The only solution for this is change of address on form or change of address formats throughout India. If you keep waiting for the latter' date=' good luck.[/quote'] You don't realize that people travel to passport offices from distance, sometimes after spending 12-14 hours in buses and trains. So taking another appointment was an option but not easy one. Secondly, at times your two address proofs represent same address differently. Then how you would changing you driving license address so that it matches your voter id address? Of course, main point was that poor organization of address systems in India, particularly in smaller towns and rural india. Because of this people don't trust normal postal services. Bhai.. main MP se hi hoon, so not first time I was in Bhopal. However this time I went there after long time may be 10 yrs or so. City seems to have changed a lot. DB city mall is as good as any mall in bigger cities. May have to go again in coming week.

[Sidhoni]

Bhai.. main MP se hi hoon, so not first time I was in Bhopal. However this time I went there after long time may be 10 yrs or so. City seems to have changed a lot. DB city mall is as good as any mall in bigger cities. May have to go again in coming week.

DB Mall is bigger than most of malls in India. Infact it is 6th largest in India - http://kannanwrites.hubpages.com/hub/BiggestLargest-Shopping-Malls-in-India Other shopping malls have also come up in last 2 years.

[Crookbond]

You don't realize that people travel to passport offices from distance, sometimes after spending 12-14 hours in buses and trains. So taking another appointment was an option but not easy one. Secondly, at times your two address proofs represent same address differently. Then how you would changing you driving license address so that it matches your voter id address?

Oh, I now understand this better - the best thing to do is to pen down exactly same addresses across all your important documents. It will serve you in stead for your life - I have had similar issues too. It was a pain but it does really help.

[nikred]

One of my office colleagues had an unnecessary delay with companies background verification as they were unable to find his house as per the provided address. It also had Near XYZ kind of address and in actuality there was open space near XYZ.

[Mariyam]

@ Raghav, I'm not a 100% sure about this, but an official address cannot have 'near' , 'opposite', etc in it. Or maybe this directive has been recent. The form for the UID clearly mentions that you cannot use such words while writing out your address. While on topic of addresses, bad directions, I remember this time a couple of years ago when me and a few friends had gone to Kerala ( Labour Union's own country) for a trip. After a long day sightseeing, we were headed to our hotel (which were basically individual cottages). On entering the hotel premises, we saw a signboard that said Cottages 1-20 ------>

[nikred]

^^^Maybe it was a circular pathway. :dontknow:

[DomainK]

it wasnt an address problem.it was chai paani problem.if the man offered cash' date='the application would hv been passed even if the address was from another city[/quote'] I think you are right. The officer was hinting at some bribe here.