Moving towards a more people-centric approach in dispensing passport seva, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) has embarked on a pilot project to deliver passport related-services via post offices along with other initiatives, maintained Consular Passport Visa and Overseas Indian Affairs Secretary Dnyaneshwar M. Mulay.
Interacting with the media at Tirupati Passport Seva Kendra (PSK) after participating in a ‘Passport Mela’ for scientists at Sriharikota, here on Friday, Mr. Mulay said that the ‘new and unique project’ would enable the people to have an easier access to passport seva.
“The services were launched at two post offices in Mysuru in Karnataka and Dahod in Gujarat on January 25. We are confident that this step would be successful and further result in roping in post offices for rendering passport seva services,” he added. Mr. Mulay spoke on other people-centric initiatives such as ‘Student Connect’ wherein passport seva officials would reach out to the student community by approaching universities, colleges and other educational institutions. “We want to give them wings for their future, by taking the first step for overseas education and other purposes. Besides this, we have been conducting 80-100 passport camps every year i.e., every third day there is a passport mela conducted at some place across the country,” he remarked.
With respect to recent changes in making the process of obtaining a passport easy, Mr. Mulay said that several norms have been relaxed such as inclusion of adoptions, need for mentioning names of both the parents, any genuine certificate for the proof of date of birth, and offering passport services to orphans, who have remained the most neglected segment. “MEA has been continuously working in reforming the process and making the access to passport services easier for the people. This year marks the 50th year of the Passport Act and over the years the services have become efficient, transparent and people-friendly,” he said.
‘Plan to open PSK
in Nellore district’
Mr. Mulay said that there are about 89 PSKs along with 38 Passport Offices, dispensing nearly 1.3 crore passports every year. He also said that they were mulling to establish a PSK in Nellore district owing to the rising demand and are currently under discussion with the officials concerned.
During his three-day trip to Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, Mr. Mulay will be interacting with the Chief Ministers of both the States to discuss the aspects of safety, skill development, basic etiquette training, prevention of exploitation, approaching embassy etc., for those who leave abroad for employment.
