As part of efforts to improve the passport delivery ecosystem, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Monday said that his ministry was working with police forces in states and Union Territories to reduce the time taken for police verification of passport applicants.
Taking to X on the occasion of 12th Passport Seva Divas, Jaishankar, along with sharing a two-page message, wrote, “On the occasion of the 12th Passport Seva Divas, extend my greetings to all Passport Authorities in India and abroad. Commend their efforts in furthering our mission of a citizen centric foreign policy.”
“#TeamMEA reaffirms its commitment to make our passport services more timely, reliable, accessible, citizen-friendly, transparent and accessible,” he added.
In the message, he said his ministry is committed in ensuring that passports serve as crucial travel documents that significantly impact a country’s development.
“Our government is committed in ensuring that passports serve as crucial travel documents that significantly impact a country’s development by way of facilitating international trade and investment, boosting tourism, enhancing global mobility, education and skills development, diplomatic relations, security and regulation, legal identity and for crisis management such as evacuation and assistance,” Jaishankar wrote.
Emphasising that today, there is widespread recognition in the country and abroad that the passport delivery program is one of the services of the government, he said that it has improved significantly, and is very much appreciated by the average citizen as a model of efficient service delivery.
“To further improve the passport delivery ecosystem, the ministry is continuously working with States/UTs police to reduce the time taken for police verification,” Jaishankar said.
To provide better passport services, the ministry has launched 440 Post Office Passport Seva Kendras. This is in addition to the 93 Passport Seva Kendras, 533 passport processing centres and 37 regional passport offices across the country. The ministry has also integrated the passport issuance systems in 187 Indian missions abroad.
The “mPassport Police App”, which streamlines the police verification process, has been rolled out in 9,000 police stations of 25 states and Union territories, he said.
“The Passport Seva System has also been integrated successfully with DigiLocker system to facilitate paperless documentation process,” he added.
Jaishankar said that the ministry has rendered 1.65 crore passport-related services to Indian citizens in 2023 and over 14 lakh visa applications were submitted monthly.
He further noted that the year 2023 witnessed a commendable annual growth of nearly 15 per cent in passports and other related services.
“I am happy to note that in 2023, the Ministry rendered 1.65 crore passport-related services to our citizens. The year 2023 noticed a commendable annual growth of nearly 15 per cent in passport and other related services. The monthly submission of applications crossed 14 Lakh mark in 2023,” he said.
He also committed to delivering the next level of citizen experience by leveraging the power of the latest technologies.
“As we commemorate the Passport Seva Divas today, we continue our commitment to deliver the next level of citizen experience by leveraging the power of the latest technologies combined with a dynamic and motivated workforce,” he said in the message.
With inputs from agencies
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MEA working to cut police verification time for passports, says Jaishankar on Passport Seva Divas
