passport services in WB, Tripura and Sikkim

Ministry of external affairs ties up with TCS to boost passport services in WB, Tripura and Sikkim

21 Aug, 2012,

by Ashoke Nag,ET Bureau 


Since 2007, there has been an increase of roughly 86% in volumes of applications processed per annum that reached 338,595 in 2011.The ministry of external affairs (MEA), in partnership with Tata Consultancy Services, has taken several proactive measures to enhance passport related services for the people in West Bengal, Tripura and Sikkim.

Opened to the public on November 24, 2011 and May 2, 2012, the Passport Seva Kendras (PSKs) in Kolkata and Behrampore have successfully processed 135,410 applications till July 31, 2012, of which close to 76,500 passports have already been issued.The Kolkata RPO caters to 19 districts in West Bengal, 5 districts in Tripura and 4 districts in Sikkim.

Since 2007, there has been an increase of roughly 86% in volumes of applications processed per annum that reached 338,595 in 2011. The PSK at Behrampore caters to central and north Bengal citizens.

Dr R. Sivakumar, regional passport officer, Kolkata said, ""There has been massive increase in the volumes of passport applications processed in Kolkata and mindful of this change, we have customized the systems and processes accordingly. Some of these initiatives are direct walk-ins for applicants under special categories, and walk-in in case of urgency for RPO approval. We are committed to provide uninterrupted passport services to the citizens and address their grievances effectively. Currently, the citizen satisfaction index at Kolkata PSK is consistently over 99.5%.""

As part of MEA's e-Governance initiatives, the Passport Seva Project (PSP) has transformed the passport issuance system across India through an increased network of 77 PSKs. The ministry is improving governance in passport offices by focusing on citizen-centricity, service orientation and transparency.

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MEA to set up Passport Laghu Seva Kendras in smaller cities 

Kolkata | Tuesday, Aug 21 2012 IST


In order to further streamline the passport services and meet the increasing public demand even from smaller cities, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) will set up 16 'Passport Laghu Seva Centres' in as many Tier-two cities in the country.

The decision to open such 'Laghu Seva Centres' had been taken following a recent Union Cabinet decision to reduce increasing and unabated pressure for issuing passport to more and more people, even those living in the furthest corners of the country, said Chief Passport Officer and Joint Secretary in the MEA Mukesh Purdeshi while speaking to reporters here today. Stating that unlike most of the countries in the world, the MEA during the past four decades had issued more than 7.36 million passports to genuine Indian citizens, Mr Purdeshi said adding the number had been growing by over 50,000 every month to make the Indian citizens as the second largest number of passport holders after China.

Referring to a series of innovative steps to make the entire system of issuing passport to genuine citizens without any hassle and that too within a month, the CPO said in order to bring the whole country under the network of e-passport within the next few years, the MEA had joined hands with leading technology expert Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) for converting the passport issuing sytem completely biometric and a smarter one. "At present on an average it takes nearly two months to issue one's passport after receiving all the necessary information, including the police verification, said Mr Purdeshi and hoped following his meetings with the Director Generals of Police and Home Secretaries of several states, including West Bengal, and following the full implementation of the biomatric system, the entire timeslot would be reduced to less than a month soon.

This would also go a long way to help reduce the average waiting period for applicants at every level, the CPO added. When his attention was drawn to the alleged unsatisfactory performance of the Kolkata's main passport office and the one year old Passport Seva Kendra in Behrampore in terms of mweeting demands from the people in north Bengal and some Northeastern states like Sikkim and Tripura, Mr Purdeshi blamed the inadequacy of staff members and officers as the prime reason for inordinate delay in issue passports.

Keeping in view the seriousness of the probelem, the MEA had decided to set up at least five of the 16 'Passport Laghu Seva' centres in smaller towns like Gangtok, Agartala, Siliguri, Shillong and Kharagpur besides one such in the city here itself by the end of this year, besides appointing several people at the state level to speed up the work culture. The government had also introduced a unique cash incentive scheme for every sincere staff member to help reduce the burden. Under the new scheme one could earn a maximum incentive of Rs 1.2 lakh every year, he said and stated that it had already generated huge enthusiasm among the employees of passport offices. UNI ABA SJC sdg1818 NNNN

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