Passport applications through e-service centres

32 applications forwarded to PSK from these centres

Passport seekers in the district need not go all the way to the Passport Seva Kendra (PSK) in Madurai for applying passports as Tamil Nadu Cable TV Corporation (TACTV) has introduced passport service in all its eight Common e-Service Centres in the district.

After establishing valet link with State Bank of India (SBI) for accepting passport fee, the Common e-Service Centre here and seven other centres at taluk headquarters launched the new service on September 21.

A fee of Rs. 100 for the centre and Rs. 55 for the bank would be collected for the service, D. Raman, Deputy Manager/ Tahsildar, TACTV, told reporters here on Friday.

The launching of the service was delayed for want of valet link and now it had been facilitated with data operators in the centres opening current account with SBI. The service was launched after the Passport Officers offered training to the data operators, he also said.

“We have so far processed 32 applications in all the eight centres and obtained appointments for the applicants with the PSK in Madurai. After verifying the required certificates, the PSK would seek police verification and after completing the process, it would issue passports within a month,” he said.

Those who applied for passport at the Common e-Service Centres should pay Rs. 1,500 towards passport fee in addition to service charges.

As private agencies fleeced those who applied for passports, the public could now make use of the centres, Mr. Raman said.

The e-service centres launched in January had been helping the public get, within a short span of time, an array of certificates required for seeking admission to schools and colleges and availing themselves of scholarships and welfare assistance, he said.

He said that about 80 per cent of the people who visited the centres sought community, nativity, income, first graduation and deserted women certificates.

The centres had earned about Rs. 8 lakh towards service charges in the last eight months, he noted.

The other services in the pipeline included issuing Permanent Account Number, Voter’s Identity Card, Electricity Bill payment, Encumbrance Certificate and train ticket reservation. Providing net connectivity under ‘Illamthorum Inaiyam Scheme’ was also on the anvil, he added.

“A fee of Rs. 100 for the centre and Rs. 55 for the bank would be collected for the service”