Passport Issuance

            The Passport Seva Project (PSP) has been implemented by the Ministry with the establishment of 77 Passport Seva Kendras (PSKs) operationalised by June, 2012. Subsequently, to provide more access points for passport services, the Ministry decided to set up 18 additional Passport Seva Laghu Kendras (PSLK). State-wise list of functional/upcoming PSLKs is enclosed at Annexure I. In view of increased demand for passports, the Ministry is considering to further increase the number of PSKs in the country.

              The Ministry has already been utilizing the services of Common Services Centers (CSCs) with a view to extend its digital outreach to rural hinterland. The Ministry in association with CSC e-Governance Services India Ltd. which is promoted by the Department of Electronics and Information Technology has facilitated online filing of passport applications through the vast network of over one lakh Common Services Centers.  This arrangement was firmed up in March 2014 and full roll out came into effect from April 2014.  Under this arrangement, CSCs facilitate filling and uploading of Passport application, online payment and scheduling of appointment for the applicant to visit the concerned PSK at a nominal charge not exceeding Rs.100/-.  So far, a total of 1,31,713 applications have been submitted through CSCs. 11,824 applications were submitted in the month of October, 2015 through CSC network.  

              The list of number of passports issued by Passport Offices in India, excluding issued overseas, during the current year till 31^st October 2015 is enclosed at Annexure II.

              The Passport Seva Programme is being implemented successfully in Public-Private-Partnership mode with Tata Consultancy Services for the last four years. The information relating to passport issuance is available on the user friendly portal http://passportindia.gov.in   which is accessible to anyone, anywhere and anytime. Comprehensive information relating to passport application procedures, requirement of supporting documents, applicable fees, location of Passport Offices, Passport Seva Kendras, police station jurisdiction etc. is posted on the Portal to make it user-friendly.  The portal is updated with Advisories/Notices and Press Releases relating to Passport services developments from time to time. A 24 x 7 National Call Centre has been set up which provides real-time status and up-to-date information in 17 languages using a toll free number 1800-258-1800. mPassport Seva mobile app provides passport related information including PSK locator, applicable fees, mode of submission and tracking of passport application status on smart phones. Ample publicity is given by the concerned Passport Office for holding Passport Seva Camps, Passport Melas and Passport Adalats well in advance so that applicants can make full use of these special dispensations.  Passport Awareness events are also held occasionally by respective Passport Offices.  The Common Service Centers are also guiding citizens about online submission of passport applications, especially in rural areas.

Annexure-I

List of functional/upcoming Passport Seva Kendras (PSKs)

S. No.	State / UT	Location of PSK	Under Passport Office
1	Mizoram	Aizawl	Guwahati
2	Manipur	Imphal	Guwahati
3	Meghalaya	Shillong	Guwahati
4	Arunachal Pradesh	Itanagar	Guwahati
5	Nagaland	Dimapur	Guwahati
6	Tripura	Agartala	Kolkata
7	Sikkim	Gangtok	Kolkata
8	West Bengal	Siliguri	Kolkata
9	West Bengal	Kharagpur	Kolkata
10	West  Bengal	Kolkata (MEA Branch Secretariat)	Kolkata
11	Bihar	Darbhanga	Patna
12	Jammu & Kashmir	Leh	Srinagar
13	Madhya Pradesh	Indore	Bhopal
14	Maharashtra	Solapur	Pune
15	Karnataka	Kalaburagi	Bangalore
16	Andhra Pradesh	Bhimavaram	Visakhapatnam
17	Telangana	Karimnagar	Hyderabad
18	Puducherry	Puducherry	Chennai

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Annexure-II

State/UT Wise number  of   Passports issued from 1st Jan, 2015 to 31st Oct, 2015
State Name	Passports issued
Andaman & Nicobar	4015
Andhra Pradesh	329847
Arunachal Pradesh	1224
Assam	52617
Bihar	286075
Chandigarh	24209
Chhattisgarh	31537
Dadra and Nagar Haveli	1327
Daman and Diu	6769
Delhi	322270
Goa	37546
Gujarat	597879
Haryana	206476
Himachal Pradesh	35476
Jammu and Kashmir	92308
Jharkhand	66705
Karnataka	521165
Kerala	906888
Lakshadweep	1498
Madhya Pradesh	137703
Maharashtra	954705
Manipur	4119
Meghalaya	4179
Mizoram	2463
Nagaland	2312
Odisha	84111
Puducherry	17802
Punjab	558459
Rajasthan	244706
Sikkim	3898
Tamil Nadu	810032
Telangana	422589
Tripura	16507
Uttar Pradesh	1097381
Uttarakhand	70048
West Bengal	448333
Total	8405178

The Minister of State for the external Affairs Gen. Dr. V. K. Singh (Retd.) provided this information in reply to a question in Lok Sabha today.

Courtesy:pib.nic.in