RAJYA SABHA
UNSTARRED QUESTION NO-550
TO BE ANSWERED ON- 04/12/2025
ESTABLISHMENT OF REGIONAL PASSPORT OFFICE AT NANDED
550. DR. AJEET MADHAVRAO GOPCHADE
Will the Minister of EXTERNAL AFFAIRS be pleased to state :-
(a) whether Government has taken any steps to establish a Regional Passport Office at Nanded in Maharashtra, considering the hardships faced by people of the region;
(b) the measures taken by the Ministry to address the shortage of manpower in the Regional Passport Offices in Maharashtra and Gujarat to ensure timely delivery of services to citizens; and
(c) whether Government is considering to make it mandatory to inform the concerned Passport Office, about the death of a passport holder and if so, the details thereof?
ANSWER
THE MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF EXTERNAL AFFAIRS
(SHRI KIRTI VARDHAN SINGH)
(a) Ministry of External Affairs in association with Department of Posts (DoP) decided in January 2017 to open Passport Seva Kendras at the Head Post Offices (HPO)/Post Offices (PO) in the country called Post Office Passport Seva Kendras (POPSK). Under this initiative, one POPSK is functional at Nanded District under Regional Passport Office (RPO) Pune. This POPSK started passport service operations for normal passport applications and Police Clearance Certificate (PCC) with effect from 08.04.2018 and appointments are available for next working day. Further, Mobile vans are also deployed in specific locations under the jurisdiction of RPO Pune to cater to the additional requirements of Passports.
Opening of Passport Offices (POs)/ Passport Seva Kendras (PSKs)/ Post Office Passport Seva Kendras (POPSKs) is an on-going activity and depends upon various factors including distance from existing POs/ PSKs/ POPSKs and based on the volume of passport applications from a particular region.
(b) The Ministry is taking appropriate measures to fill up the vacancies in the Central Passport Organisation as per procedures. Staff Selection Commission has recommended a total of 447 candidates for the year 2025 towards appointment on direct recruitment basis in the grades of Assistant Superintendent, Junior Translation Officer, Stenographer, Junior Passport Assistant, and Office Assistant for the Passport Offices (including Maharashtra and Gujarat). Promotions through Departmental Promotion Committees and Limited Departmental Competitive Examination are being carried out in a timely manner. In addition to this, the Ministry has engaged Consultants, Young Professionals, Data Entry Operators and Multi Tasking Staff on contractual basis in the Passport Offices (including Maharashtra and Gujarat).
(c) There is no such policy currently under consideration of the Government.