Those who are desirous of undertaking the Kailash-Manasarovar pilgrimage this year have been advised to get permission of the Regional Passport Office here for applying for passport, if they are not able to get an appointment with the Passport Seva Kendra.
Pilgrims should register for the yatra, to be undertaken between June and September, online before April 10. It is mandatory to hold a valid passport for the pilgrimage.
In a statement issued here on Friday, Regional Passport Officer S. Manishwar Raja said that the government had made it mandatory for all Indian citizens to possess a passport whenever they left the country.
In its order of March 16, the Union government had made it mandatory for seamen and those travelling in sailing vessels to possess a passport. Hitherto, it was enough if seamen produced their identity card in a foreign country while on duty.
The order would come into effect from June 1.
The RPO appealed to the public to provide true details while applying for passport and said that several applications had been rejected in the last three months for furnishing false details.
The application status can be tracked through the following facilities:
rpo.madurai@mea.gov.in; Facebook: Passport Office, Madurai; call centre: 1800 258 1800; service request:www.passportindia.gov.in; tele enquiry: 0452 2521205, 2521204, 2520795; fax: 2522070; twitter: ropmadurai.
