In a bid to make passport issuance faster, transparent and smoother, three Passport Seva Kendras (PSKs) were opened in Punjab in its Doaba belt.
The Kendras were opened by the Ministry of External Affairs in association with Tata Consultancy Service (TCS).
All these centres (two in Jalandhar and one in Hoshiarpur) fall under the jurisdiction of the Regional Passport Office, Jalandhar. They were launched as part of the Centre's National E-Governance Plan.
Speaking at the inauguration of one such PSK at Aman Plaza (Nakodar Chowk) in Jalandhar, Chief Passport Officer and Joint Secretary, Ministry of External Affairs, Muktesh Kumar Pardeshi, said that one of the salient features of these PSKs would be to grant 'on-the-spot' passport to an applicant within just 45 minutes of submission of his/her application.
“Transparency will be the key factor in this modern system which will go a long way in reducing the anxieties of applicants,” said Kumar who was the chief guest on the occasion. He also assured that the new system of passport issuance will go a long way in cutting down 'bureaucratic bottlenecks'.
Other dignitaries who graced the occasion were Principal Consultant (MEA) Golak Simli, Jalandhar Passport Officer Parneet Singh, Jalandhar Deputy Commissioner Priyank Bharati, J.S. Sodhi, RPO, Amritsar, and Rajesh Dogra TCS's All-India Operations Head. Some top officials of the RPO Jalandhar and TCS local offices also formed the large gathering.
It is expected that this joint Passport Seva Project in Jalandhar and Hoshiarpur will go a long way in reducing long queues of passport-seekers at the Jalandhar RPO and help in 'transforming the service delivery' in the region.
According to RPO Parneet Singh, under the new system a citizen would get his passport in a hassle-free manner. “Now the passport applicant will come to know within minutes whether he will get his passport or not, just like a visa, because the new system will ensure on-the