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Passport Seva Divas 2021

Posted on: June 25, 2021 | Back | Print

The Ministry of External Affairs held a special event on a virtual platform to mark the Passport Seva Divas on 24 June 2021 in commemoration of the enactment of the Passports Act on 24 June 1967.The External Affairs Minister, Dr. S. Jaishankar , and the Minister of State for External Affairs, Shri V. Muraleedharan, addressed the Passport Officers through video conferencing.

In his Keynote Address , External Affairs Minister noted and commended the dedication and determination of all Passport Offices in rendering the passport and passport-related services, even in the face of adversity. He expressed his condolences to the bereaved families of the personnel of the Central Passport Organization who lost their battle against the Covid-19 virus.

The External Affairs Minister noted that the Passport Offices should make the citizen-centric services even more citizen-friendly and introduce further simplification of the passport rules and processes by minimizing the compliance burden on the citizens. He noted that the Ministry, in close collaboration with the Department of Posts, has strengthened the outreach of Passport services to the citizens by establishing Post Office Passport Seva Kendra (POPSK) all across the country. Currently , there is a network of 555 Passport Kendras in India, including 36 Passport Offices, 93 Passport Seva Kendra (PSK) and 426 Post Office Passport Seva Kendra (POPSK). He further noted that the Ministry has extended its global outreach and integrated 174 Indian Missions and Posts abroad into the Passport Seva Programme enabling a centralized passport issuance system for citizens in India and Diaspora abroad.

Stressing that MEA has leveraged the use of technology and digital systems into its functioning, including in delivering passport services, he noted that the Ministry has recently integrated the Passport Seva Programme with DigiLocker, enabling citizens to submit various documents for obtaining Passport services through DigiLocker in a paperless mode and they are not required to carry the original documents .

In his address, MoS highlighted the efforts of all the PIAs in India and abroad for working to ensure transparent and efficient passport delivery systems for the benefit of our citizens. He also noted that the Ministry has a robust grievance redressal mechanism, including on CPGRAMS, PSP portal and social media, which has helped to improve delivery of services .

MoS announced the selection of a logo and a tagline for the outreach activities of Passport Seva Programme, through a competitive process, for which MEA received an overwhelming number of entries from citizens.

External Affairs Minister congratulated the Central Passport Organization for being an outstanding example of e-governance and success of PPP model. Passport Seva Puraskars were announced for the best performing Passport Offices and the personnel of the Service Provider. As Police verification is an important component of the process of issue of passport, special mention was made of the Police Departments for their efforts in providing speedy police clearances.