New Passport Seva Kendras (PSKs) to be operational soon at Karimnagar in Telangana and Bhimavaram in Andhra Pradesh will cut down the travel time and costs of applicants in both the States, said Chief Passport Officer Muktesh K Pardeshi.
These are in addition to the seven PSKs in Andhra Pradesh and TS. Mr. Pardeshi, who spoke to the media along with the Hyderabad Regional Passport Officer, Ashwini Sattaru here on Friday said new Passport Seva Kendras will further enhance the efficient functioning of Hyderabad RPO that stood first in the country in clearing the applications last year.
The Hyderabad RPO had released 5,277 slots per day while Vishakapatnam centre was giving 1,223 slots.
He said Andhra Pradesh and Telangana police had an efficient system in clearing the applications. While Police Verification (PV) in Andhra Pradesh was taking 15 days Telangana was completing it in 19 days and this was much better than the national average of 41 days. Last year, 85 per cent of PVs were processed within the desired time limit of 21 days in AP while 73 per cent got completed in Telangana within the same limit.
Passport melas
The RPO Hyderabad received 7.17 lakh applications last year, which is an increase of 13 per cent while Vishakapatnam received 2.02 lakh applications, an increase of 37 per cent.
He said the RPO would increase the number of passport melas in the two States reaching out to people in towns like Adilabad, Khammam, Mahabubnagar, Chittoor, Anantapur, Kadapa, Guntur and Nellore.
