Passport Seva Kendras set to be operational soon

S M KrishnaIndian Passport seekers need not to wait for long time for getting their passports as the Ministry of External Affairs has expedited its efforts to introduce Passport Seva Kendras very soon in the country.

Foreign Affairs Minister S M Krishna, after visiting two such centers in Bangalore at Marathahalli and Lalbagh Road, expressed, "The idea was to make it applicant friendly and avoid unintentional delays.

However, security will not be compromised." These centers are yet to start receiving applications from people and currently they are processing applications collected from the District Passport offices.

When these centers become operational, people can easily submit applications for passport and get passport in their hands after three days of police verification.

The proposed 77 Passport Seva Kendras (PSKs) would be established with the help of private sector in the country under a pilot project sponsored by the government.

All centers are expected to offer services to the public after the end of this month.

Applicants have an option to download and fill application form online by logging into the website passportindia. gov. in at the centers.

The PSK staff would capture digital photo of the applicants at the center for completing the entire application process in around 45 minutes.