She told mediapersons here the first such adalat would be held at Hyderabad on January 20. The adalats would be organised by the Regional Passport Officers in all states not only to sort out public grievances but tone up the functioning of passport offices.

Similarly, the Ministry would be constituting passport advisory committees at national and state levels to bridge the gap between the people and the department. These advisory committees would consist of eminent citizens and public representatives.

On the plethora of complaints in getting a passport, Vasundhara Raje said: ``I am surprised why so many complaints are coming up. Soon we are going to take a series of steps to revamp the department to serve people in a better way''.

Efforts were on to harnessinformation technology to provide passports to applicants within the shortest possible time. At present, the minimum time required for securing a passport ranged from 15 to 40 days, she said in reply to a question.

Referring to charges of corruption and lethargy in RPOs, the Minister clarified the government was keen on improving efficiency and introducing transparency in the department. ``Our aim is to be public-friendly,'' she explained.

The MEA had issued 23 lakh passports last year as against 19 lakh passports in 1996 in the country. Of these, about 2.3 lakh passports were issued by the Hyderabad Regional Passport Office as against 1.42 lakh in 1996.

To ease the burden on the Hyderabad Passport Office, two passport issue offices -- at Vijayawada and Tirupati -- would opened soon. While the office at Vijayawada would start functioning by the end of this month, the Tirupati office would be set up in a couple of months, she said.

The Hyderabad RPO would soon be having its own premises, built at Rs3.86 crore. The office would be ready by June this year, Raje said.