New Delhi, Jan 25 (KNN) In order to extend passport services to the Indian citizens in the remote locations, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) and the Department of Posts (DOP) have now agreed to utilize the Head Post Offices (HPO) in the various States as Post Office Passport Seva Kendra (POPSK).

POPSK will be used for delivering passport related services to the citizens of India.

The Ministry of External Affairs confirmed that the pilot projects for this joint venture between MEA and DOP would be inaugurated on 25 January, 2017 at the HPO at Mysuru in Karnataka and at Dahod in Gujarat.

Appointments for passport applicants have been released for these two places beginning 25 January, 2017. Applicants, who apply for their passports online through the passport portal, can now schedule an appointment and then visit the designated POPSK to complete the formalities akin to those at the PSK necessary prior to the issue of the passport.

Delivery of passport related services through the POPSK would be yet another citizen-centric measure of the Government in taking IT- driven public services closer to the people of the country.

This partnership would be an important step forward enabling the Government to continue to deliver passport related services to the citizens in a timely, transparent, more accessible, and reliable manner through streamlined processes and a committed, trained and motivated workforce.

Once the pilot projects are operationalized successfully, the Government intends to scale up this programme by opening POPSK in all the HPO in a phased manner.

The Passport Seva Project (PSP), an ambitious Mission Mode Project of the Government of India, is being successfully run in the Public Private Partnership (PPP) mode as part of the National e-Governance Plan.