In a month or so, Delhi will have two Passport Seva Kendras (PSK), an e-governance initiative, which aims to provide passport in a jiffy in a "reliable and transparent'' manner. These centres, which can handle as many as 300 applications in a day, will facilitate online appointment dispensing the need to stand in a queue outside the passport office. Government sources said that intensive efforts are being made to roll out Passport Seva Kendras in Delhi and Gurgaon within one month. There will be three PSKs – two in Delhi and one in Gurgaon. There are at present only seven PSKs, described as an initiative by foreign minister S M Krishna himself, in the country but 70 more are slated to be opened by early next year. "In order to address the infirmities of the present system and to provide passport services to citizens in a timely, transparent, more accessible and reliable manner, 77 PSKs are being rolled out across the country,'' said an official.
In Delhi, the two centres would be located at Herald House (ITO) and Shalimar Place in Pitampura. The centre at Herald House will be spread across 16,000 square feet and will have as many as 32 application counters. The Shalimar Place centre will have 14 counters. These fully air conditioned passport application centres will have special amenities for differently-abled persons and also applicants accompanied by infants and senior citizens. Online scheduling of appointments, extended hours for accepting applications (9 am to 5 pm) and end-to-end online tracking of application status are other features of these centres. "These will have online connectivity with state police headquarters for a seamless verification process. They will also facilitate a paperless work environment,'' said the official. According to officials, PSKs are going to ensure transparency and time-bound completion of services at each stage. "Effectively, an applicant's passport application file will be decided before he or she leaves the PSK, thus providing full transparency. Passport granting is assured once the applicant clears all formalities at the PSK,'' added the official. The first such PSK, which function in collaboration with staff of Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), was opened last year in Bangalore, Krishna's home turf.
*Source: TimesofIndia
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