Passport Seva Kendra opened at Tripunithura

The Passport Seva Kendra that was inaugurated at Tripunithura on Wednesday. 

Of the 13 Passport Seva Kendras (PSK) allocated to the State as part of the Ministry of External Affairs' ‘Passport Seva Project' aimed at providing efficient and speedy service to passport applicants, 10 have begun operations on a trial basis. They are gearing up to dole out full-scale services in a month's time.

While the PSKs at Thiruvananthapuram, Neyyattinkara and Kollam under Regional Passport Office (RPO), Thiruvananthapuram; Tripunithura, Aluva, Alappuzha and Kottayam under RPO, Ernakulam; Malappuram under RPO, Malappuram; and Kozhikode and Vadakara under RPO, Kozhikode have become functional, PSKs at Thrissur, Kannur and Payyannur are expected to begin service by mid-March.

“With the PSKs launching the service, none of the speed post centres and the District Passport Collection Centres at Aluva, Kottayam and Alappuzha will accept applications from tomorrow [March 1]. After submitting applications online at our centralised website www.passportindia.gov.in applicants can now walk into the PSK of their choice on the appointed date with relevant documents to complete the process in less than an hour,” B. Sreekumar, Regional Passport Officer, Ernakulam, told the media at the newly-opened Tripunithura PSK.

However, till the Thrissur PSK came into being, the existing passport cell there would continue to receive applications, he said.

Once fully operational, each PSK, Mr. Sreekumar said, would process 500 applications a day and the time taken for delivery of ordinary and Tatkal passports would come down drastically, eventually to not more than three days subject to police clearance.

The impressive, public-friendly PSKs, readied by Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), which is executing the Passport Seva Project, have their front-end office, manned by TCS staff, where collection of biometric data takes place while passport officials verify documents and collect fees.

== COURTESY   THE HINDU  KOCHI, March 1, 2012

Chief Passport Officer to launch operations at Tiruchi, Thanjavur PSK

People at the Passport Seva Kendra branch on Sasthri Road in Tiruchi on Monday.

Joint Secretary and Chief Passport Officer, Ministry of External Affairs, Muktesh Kumar Pardeshi, will launch operations at the new Passport Seva Kendras (PSK) in Tiruchi and Thanjavur on June 29.

The Tiruchi PSK equipped to service 250 to 300 applicants every day will serve Tiruchi, Karur and Perambalur districts while the one at Thanjavur with a capacity to handle 300 to 350 applicants a day will cater to applicants in Thanjavur, Nagapattinam, Thiruvarur, Pudukkottai and Ariyalur districts, K. Balamurugan, Regional Passport Officer, told presspersons on Monday.

The two PSKs, each headed by an Assistant Passport Officer, will function under the jurisdiction of Regional Passport Office, Tiruchi. Tata Consultancy Services would handle front-end services that would include receiving and streamlining applications, photographing and collecting biometric data of applicants at the Kendras. The PSKs will eliminate the problem of touts, Mr. Balamurugan said, adding that the role of travel agents will be confined to rendering service for filling in applications.

The Regional Passport Office will have one counter to handle limited number of applications of all types in emergency situations. Likewise, the District Passport Cells, where applications for fresh passports alone will be received, will continue to function until the PSKs are able to take the load. The duration of police verification could be reduced by seven to ten days under the new online procedure approved by the Director General of Police for the offices of Superintendents of Police to convey acceptance or refusal.

Only applications with prior appointment will be processed at PSK, and the applicants after obtaining the Application Reference Number can choose their time to get the formalities fulfilled by producing all original documents and photocopies as required till 4.00 p.m. Status of applications under the new system could be tracked by calling the call centre at 1800-258-1800 or by logging on to www.passportindia.gov.in, Mr. Balamurugan said.

The two PSKs under the jurisdiction of Regional Passport Office, Tiruchi, are among 77 PSKs planned across the country as a mission mode program under the National e-governance plan. Seven PSKs – two in Bangalore, and one each in Mangalore, Hubli, Chandigarh, Ludhiana and Ambala – are already open to citizens, processing 3,500 applications on a daily basis. So far, 5.6 lakh applications have been processed through the Passport Seva Project (PSP) scheme.

== COURTESY   THE HINDU  MADURAI, June 27, 2011

Madurai Passport seva kendra to function from June 30

  

HI-TECH: The finger prints of a passport applicant being scanned by a TCS executive at the Passport Seva Kendra in Madurai on Monday.

The Passport Seva Kendra, which would function in collaboration with the Tata consultancy services, will start functioning in this city from June 30, according to a senior official.

The kendra was being established as per the Memorandum of Understanding between the External Affairs Ministry and the TCS. While Chennai would have three Kendras, Madurai, Tiruchirappalli, Coimbatore and Thanjavur would have one each.

The applications of six districts including Theni, Dindigul, Madurai, Virudhunagar, Ramanathapuram and Sivaganga would be processed at Kochadai in Madurai.

Applicants of Tirunelveli, Kanyakumari and Tuticorin could use one at Tirunelveli, Passport officer (Madurai zone)Jose K.Mathew told reporters last evening.

The applicants can log on to the Kendra website and fill in the application forms online.

A large size screen informed the status of the applications. The TCS authorities would process the papers.

The Process included photographing and fingerprint reading with modern gadgets. Since the Photographs would be taken at the kendra, the applicants need not carry any photographs.

It would not take more than a month from the acceptance of the applications for issuing passport, sources said, adding, the kendra would work from 9:30 to 5PM.

== COURTESY   THE HINDU  MADURAI, June 28, 2011