One of the country’s first post office Passport Seva Kendras (PSK) began its operations in Mysuru on Wednesday. The second one simultaneously opened in Gujarat.
By the time the centre was inaugurated by Union Minister for Chemicals and Fertilizers Ananth Kumar in the afternoon, the applications of 45 passport aspirants had already been processed.
Syed Ayathullah, a resident of Udayagiri in Mysuru, had applied for renewal of passport and had booked an appointment slot online in the PSK at Lalbagh in Bengaluru. But, soon after he learnt about the commissioning of the post office PSK in Mysuru, he shifted his appointment to Mysuru.
“This facility in Mysuru will save us the trouble of making a trip to Bengaluru,” he said, welcoming the government’s decision to open the centre in Mysuru.
P.S. Karthigeyan, Regional Passport Officer (RPO), Bengaluru, told The Hindu later in the day that of the 100 applications taken up for the day, 97 were processed.
The PSK will function like any other kendra in the country, where the applicant’s biometrics and photographs will be taken, documents verified, and a decision on granting the passport taken.
“If granted, the applicants, who do not require police verification, will receive their passports in a week’s time,” Mr. Karthigeyan said. Applicants below 15 years of age, re-issue applicants, and government employees are among those who do not require police verification.
The estimated time for police verification in Mysuru could be around 25 days, Mr. Karthigeyan said.
“For the time being, we will issue 100 appointment slots every day,” he said, adding that the number of appointment slots could increase depending on the demand and capacity of the facility.
Mr. Karthigeyan sought to make it clear that only applicants from Mysuru and Chamarajanagar districts will be given appointment slots in the PSK in Mysuru. A decision on allowing walk-in applicants belonging to certain categories, such as senior citizens, disabled and minors, besides Tatkal applicants will be taken only after one month, he said.
The RPO, Bengaluru, issues about 1,900 appointments for PSK Lalbagh; about 700 at the PSK in Sai Arcade, Marathahalli; 550 appointments each at the PSKs in Hubballi and Mangaluru, and about 120 at the PSK in Kalaburagi.
