Govt takes steps to expedite passport issuance

New Delhi, Mar 16 (KNN) The Ministry of External Affairs has announced two major changes recently that will expedite the process for first time passport applicants as well as make it more convenient to secure an appointment at local Passport Seva Kendras. 

As per the announcement, the first time passport applicants who furnish Aadhaar Card, Electoral Photo Identity Card (EPIC), PAN Card and an affidavit in the prescribed format will get faster service without payment of any additional fees, subject to successful online validation of Aadhaar and EPIC and PAN Cards, if required from the respective databases, Minister of State for the External Affairs, Gen. Dr. V. K. Singh (Retd.) said this in reply to a question in Lok Sabha today.

The passports under this liberal dispensation will be issued on Post-Police Verification basis.

The second measure announced pertains to securing online Appointments for submission of passport applications at Passport Seva Kendras. The new provision is allowing applicants to choose any appointment date from the earliest five available dates (working days) for scheduling/rescheduling an appointment for Passport related services. Earlier, the System used to offer only one available date to the applicants for seeking appointment for Passport related services, he added.

No extra charge is levied for the services being rendered due to these two announcements.

Gen. Singh admitted that there was a temporary shortage of passport booklets which created some backlog in issuance of passports in December 2013 – February 2014 and April 2014-mid June 2014 due to stoppage of production of booklets by ISP Nashik due to shortage of raw material imported from abroad. 

However, there is no backlog in the issuance of passports due to supply of passport booklets at the present, he confirmed.     

In view of increased demand for passports, the Ministry is considering to further increase the number of PSKs and endeavouring to open more PSKs in thickly populated district headquarters. With the implementation of Passport Seva Project (PSP), the Ministry had established 77 Passport Seva Kendras (PSKs) in various States/Union Territories initially. 

Subsequently, to provide more access points for passport services, the Ministry decided to set up 19 additional Passport Seva Laghu Kendras (PSLKs). Out of these 19 PSLKs, 10 have already started functioning in various States and Union Territories till February 2016. 

The Ministry has also initiated the process to engage an agency to conduct a comprehensive study for Passport Seva Project Version 2.0 (PSP V2.0) including exploring the possibility of opening more PSKs across the country.  However, the recommendations for the PSP V2.0 will be considered after expiry of the current PSP Contract in June 2018.

The number of passports issued during the last three years are: 71,02,718 in 2013, 84,72,570 in 2014 , and 1,05,38376 in 2015, excluding the passports issued overseas and Diplomatic/Official passports issued directly by the Ministry, the Minister said.  (KNN Bureau)