More than 24 hours after he had applied for a travel pass to participate in the last rites of his elder brother, the Coimbatore district administration simply told A. Joyce Mal, “Please wait until the end of the lockdown.”
The Sreepathy Nagar resident applied for the pass on Wednesday morning. “Soon after I saw the message around 6.30 a.m. that my elder brother A. Jayaseelan had died around 2 a.m. in Tenkasi, I applied online for an e-pass to see my brother’s body for one last time.”
His application was to travel till Pollachi, where he was to join his niece and Jayaseelan’s daughter Angeline Jessy Grace.
Soon after he clicked the submit button, he received an acknowledgement with the reference number EPASS-TN/2020/211005.
In Pollachi, Ms. Grace had moved the sub collector’s office for an e-pass to travel till Tenkasi. She had listed Mr. Mal as one of the travel members and submitted aadhar, registration certificate of vehicle and driving license as proofs of identity.
Even as Mr. Mal kept waiting for a pass, Mr. Grace received the pass. “She got it around 10.30 a.m,” he says and adds that as his pass was getting delayed, he had asked Ms. Grace to leave for Tenkasi.
At 10.45 a.m. the district administration rejected his application saying, “Dear A. Joyce Mal, you application reference number EPASS_TN/2020/211005 dated 22/04/2020 has been rejected by The Collector for the following reason(s): Please wait until the end of the lockdown.”
Sources in the district administration say processing over 1,000 applications a day with only 33% staff is difficult. The system does not allow for categorisation of applications based on reasons and therefore there is no way for officials to prioritise e-pass applications.
But the sources did not specify the reason for the delay and for rejecting Mr. Mal’s application.
No proof
District Collector K. Rajamani said there was no proof in support of the request. If the applicant attached proof, the application will be studied and permission given. He also clarified that the district administration had enough manpower to clear e-pass requests.
(With inputs from
M. Soundariya Preetha)