Trial runs have begun at the new Passport Service Kendra (PSK) at Muralinagar in the city. The fully air-conditioned PSK, scheduled to begin functioning from the first week of August, will literally give a breather to passport applicants, who have been sweating it out at the old Passport Office at Railway New Colony in the absence of ACs.
The swanky new office, located right beside the National Highway at Murali Nagar, has 18 counters as against three at the existing office at New Colony. The PSK will be manned by around 40 employees of Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) who would take care of the front office work. There will also be six verifying officers and three granting officers and an Assistant Passport Officer at the PSK. The Passport Officer, other officials and staff will function from the new Regional Passport Office located at Marripalem VUDA Colony.
“There will be three zones -- acceptance, verification and granting -- and an applicant can walk out of the office within 25 minutes on completion of work at the three zones. Online sending of police clearance certificate is expected to considerably reduce delays in the issue of passports,” Passport Officer V.S.D.L. Surendra said during a visit to the PSK on Thursday.
Verification
Passport seekers have to scan copies of their certificates and file their details online at any Internet centre or from their home. An Application Reference Number (ARN) would be generated and the date on which they have to report at the PSK would also be given. The applicants have to report at the PSK along with the requisite original certificates for verification, payment of fee and other formalities. After scrutiny of the original certificates at the PSK, the details would be sent online to the police. The police would verify the credentials of the applicants at their home address and send the ‘police clearance certificate' online to the PSK. The PSK would send the final details to the Regional Passport Office for issue of the passport. The passports would be sent to the applicants to the address given by them in their application.
“Once the new system gets stabilized and the huge backlog is cleared, new passports are expected to be issued in about 15 days,” said Mr. Surendra.
