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RAJYA SABHA
UNSTARRED QUESTION NO-1353
ANSWERED ON- 11/12/2025

PSKS AND POPSKS IN KARNATAKA

1353. SHRI IRANNA KADADI

Will the Minister of EXTERNAL AFFAIRS be pleased to state :-

(a) the current status of Passport Seva Kendras (PSKs) and Post Office Passport Seva Kendras (POPSKs) in Karnataka;

(b) the average appointment availability and processing time at the PSK in Belagavi;

(c) the steps being taken to address the high demand for passport appointments in North Karnataka;

(d) whether there are any plans to establish new POPSKs in any of the taluks of Belagavi district; and

(e) the number of passports issued and police verification requests pending in Belagavi?

ANSWER
THE MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF EXTERNAL AFFAIRS
(SHRI KIRTI VARDHAN SINGH)

(a) The list of Passport Seva Kendras (PSKs) and Post Office Passport Seva Kendras (POPSKs) in Karnataka is given at Annexure-I..

(b) At POPSK Belagavi, appointments for normal passport application and Police Clearance Certificate (PCC) are available in 5 working days and 1 working day respectively. The average time taken for processing the passport application (excluding police verification time) at the POPSK Belagavi is 7-10 working days.

(c) In order to address the high demand for passport appointments in North Karnataka, Passport appointments have been increased from 80 to 90 at each POPSK with effect from 8th October, 2025. Moreover, in June 2018, MEA had launched the ‘Apply anywhere in India’ scheme under which a passport can be applied at any PSK/POPSK in India. Also, Passport Mobile Van is deployed, depending upon the demand in respective areas.

(d) Ministry of External Affairs in association with Department of Posts (DoP) had decided in January 2017 to open Seva Kendras at the Head Post Offices (HPO)/Post Offices (PO) in the country, including in Karnataka State, called Post Office Passport Seva Kendras (POPSK) in each Lok Sabha Constituency (LSC) where there is no PSK or POPSK. Under this initiative, a POPSK at Belagavi is operational in Belagavi LSC. Apart from POPSK Belagavi, POPSK Chikkodi is also functional under Chikkodi LSC in Belagavi district.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 the volume of passport applications from a particular region. Currently, there are 1 Regional Passport Office(RPO), 5 PSKs and 23 POPSKs operational in the State of Karnataka and thus every Lok Sabha Constituency in Karnataka has either a PSK or a POPSK.

(e) The total number of passports application processed/issued at POPSK Belagavi from 2018 to 2025 (till 29.11.2025) is given as below:

As on 01.12.2025, the total number of pending police verification requests pertaining to applications processed in POPSK Belagavi under RPO Bengaluru is 747.

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