The Sixth Passport Seva Divas and Passport Officers’ Conference were organized by the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) on 26-27 June, 2018 at the Jawahar Lal Nehru Bhavan in New Delhi. The high-level segment of the Conference was held
on 26 June, 2017. The event was presided by the External Affairs Minister Smt. Sushma Swaraj in the gracious presence of Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Communications Shri Manoj Sinha and Minister of State for External Affairs General (Retd.) Dr.
V.K. Singh.
In their addresses, External Affairs Minister and Minister of State congratulated the Passport Officers on achieving the goals set and delivering more than 1.17 crore passport and passport related services during the year 2017. They advised all present to renew
their commitment towards continuing to deliver passport and its related services to the citizens with greater dedication, consideration and in a transparent and professional manner.
On this occasion, External Affairs Minister launched a new scheme by which an applicant can apply for passport from anywhere in India. This citizen-friendly initiative will enable applicants to choose the Regional Passport Office (RPO) and thus the desired
Passport Seva Kendra (PSK)/ Post Office Passport Seva Kendra (POPSK) under the RPO where they wish to submit their application irrespective of whether the present residential address specified in the application form lies within the jurisdiction of the selected
RPO or not. The Police Verification would be conducted at the address specified in the application form. The passport will be printed and despatched by the RPO selected for application submission by the applicant.
External Affairs Minister also launched the mPassport Seva Mobile App with additional facilities to apply, pay and schedule appointments for passport services. This App is available in Android and iOS platforms. Citizens would not require access to a computer
and printer to apply for passport services.
Ministry of External Affairs, in association with Department of Posts, has taken the innovative initiative to open Passport Seva Kendras at the Head Post Offices/ Post Offices in the country to be known as ‘Post Office Passport Seva Kendra’ (POPSK). 289 POPSK
have been announced so far – 86 in Phase-I, 165 in Phase-II and 38 in Phase-III. Both External Affairs Minster and Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Communications noted with satisfaction that 214 POPSK were functional as on date. External Affairs
Minister observed that together with 93 Passport Seva Kendras (PSK), there were 307 PSK functioning in the country including POPSK. She announced that Ministry of External Affairs and Department of Posts would be working together to open a POPSK in every Lok
Sabha Constituency where there is no PSK or POPSK to ensure that there is at least one PSK or POPSK available in every Lok Sabha Constituency. This will enable the Ministry of External Affairs to take passport services further closer to the people. External
Affairs Minster and Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Communications directed officials of both the Ministries to complete the necessary groundwork to make the remaining 75 POPSK functional and for identifying the Post Offices where new POPSK could
be opened in future.
External Affairs Minister, in recognition of the outstanding services rendered to citizens, gave away Passport Seva Puraskars to the best performing Passport Offices and the personnel of the Service Provider. As Police verification is an important component
of passport issuance, awards were also given to the Police Departments of Telangana, Andhra Pradesh and Haryana in recognition of their efforts in speedy police clearances. The Police Departments of Tamil Nadu, Puducherry and Maharashtra were awarded for implementation
of mPassport Police App in the State.
New Delhi
June 27, 2018
EAM's message on Passport Seva Divas and Passport Officers’ Conference 2018