LOK SABHA
UNSTARRED QUESTION NO- 3235
ANSWERED ON - 08/08/2025
DOCUMENTS REQUIRED FOR PASSPORT
3235. SHRI RAJU BISTA
Will the Minister of EXTERNAL AFFAIRS be pleased to state:
(a) whether the Ministry is aware that people from Darjeeling and Kalimpong districts, particularly in Hilly areas, have to produce additional documents besides the prescribed lists of documents when applying/renewing for passports, as police verification requirements - such as a letter from Local Samaj (CSO), two additional letters from other residents of the locality certifying that they know the applicant and that s/he is an Indian Citizen, if so, the details thereof;
(b) whether such requirements are necessary for police verification across the country or these are applicable to PSKs in West Bengal alone, particularly the districts of Darjeeling and Kalimpong, if so, the details thereof; and
(c) whether the Ministry has set up mechanisms to improve service quality of the PSK and to resolve grievances of the people who have complaints about staff behaviour at PSKs and the police verification process, if so, the details thereof?
ANSWER
THE MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF EXTERNAL AFFAIRS
(SHRI KIRTI VARDHAN SINGH)
(a) & (b) Police Verification is conducted by the State Police Authorities as per their own guidelines and provisions. The concerned police authorites are required to conduct all the necessary verification with respect to Citizenship, criminality and identity of the passport applicant and may seek all the necessary documents in this regard. Considering the geographical and demographic conditions of different States/UTs, the concerned police authorities of different States/UTs may need different documents to establish the citizenship, criminality and identity of the passport applicant. The Police Verification is conducted independently without any intervention of the Passport Issuing Authorities.
(c) From time to time, guidelines are issued to Regional Passport Offices (RPOs) and all concerned to ensure smooth coordination at functional level. Frequent review meetings are also being conducted with RPOs to ensure the smooth functioning of Passport Services and also for better coordination among various levels of staff members. Also, the complaints and public grievances are always accorded highest priority and redressed through different modes like specific Public Grievances Cell, CPGRAMS, emails and X- handle. RPOs are also asked to send these action taken reports on grievances received on various modes. Stringent monitoring of all grievances is undertaken.
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