Summary:Months after promising change, the Indian Government has finally nodded in favour of altering biometric procedures for infants. Earlier, even newborns were required to be physically present at the passport registration office to obtain one. Following the new order, kids below the age of five have been exempted from going through the previous procedure of registering their finger prints (10 fingers). The move was considered after the Ministry of External Affairs received a petition from Kolkata based cultural activist and social worker Sundeep Bhutoria. In his letter to External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, Bhutoria had expressed his concern about health safety of infants inside passport offices. "I would like to draw your kind attention to the fact that, as per the extant norms, an infant born in India has to be taken to the Passport Seva Kendra (PSK) office in order to comply with the formalities of getting a passport done," he said. "This is a very worrisome experience for those parents who find themselves in a situation where they need a passport for their days old infant. It is also fraught with consequences as the infants are susceptible to diseases and infections and the risk of contracting it is very high. Since the PSK offices are visited by too many people, maintaining a proper sanitized environment conducive for the infants is not always possible," Bhutoria added. Urging the ministry to look for an alternative, he said, "I also feel that there is a need to re-evaluate the necessity of fingerprinting new born and work out viable alternatives.
According to VK Singh, Union Minister of State for External Affairs, infants will not be required to give biometrics to the passport authority, however, they will be required to be physically present, in order to be photographed. In a written reply in the Lok Sabha, he said, "The ministry has exempted infants/minor children up to the age of five years from giving biometrics (10 fingerprints) to the passport issuing authority for processing their applications related to passport services." Answering a question whether the government has received any representation on biometrics, Singh said, "Yes. The Ministry of External Affairs received a representation requesting for reconsidering the policy that requires the physical presence of newborns at the Passport Seva Kendra for biometric finger print for issue of passports." According to the new norm, biometric information will be obtained once a child reaches five years of age. The information will then be added to the concerned person's previous and new passport. People with no or partial limbs have also been exempted from the process.

Summary:It has processed 17,899 applications from residents of Mysuru and Chamarajanagar. India's first Post Office Passport Seva Kendra (POPSK), established in Mysuru in January has facilitated issuance of more than 15,000 passports so far. The centre, inaugurated on January 25 along with a similar facility at Dahod in Gujarat on a pilot basis, has processed 17,899 applications from residents of Mysuru and Chamarajanagar districts. A total of 15,091 applicants, or 84.31%, have received their passports. Of the remaining applications, 1,554 are awaiting police verification and 1,254 havebeen kept on hold on account of reasons such as non-submission of required documents, said Bharath Kumar Kuthati, Regional Passport Officer, Bengaluru. The POPSK in Mysuru has simplified things for thousands of passport aspirants in the two districts, who would otherwise have to travel to one of the two PSKs in Bengaluru on Lalbagh Main Road and on Marathahalli Outer Ring Road to avail passport-related services. Initially, the Regional Passport Office in Bengaluru released 100 appointments every day. However, owing to the huge rush and public interest, the number of appointments was increased to 130, Mr. Kuthati said. The number of no-shows so far is 4,123, 18.72% of the applicants seeking appointment at the POPSK, he added. While Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), the private partner with whom the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) is implementing the Passport Seva project, and the Department of Posts have deployed five persons each, the MEA has posted one official at the POPSK. The personnel check the documents and capture the applicants' biometric details. The application is then forwarded to the RPO in Bengaluru, where the decision on granting passports is taken. Even though the applications are processed at the POPSK, the passport will bear a statement that it was issued in Bengaluru, as there is no granting officer in Mysuru. The MEA is considering a proposal to post one in Mysuru. Though the POPSK in Mysuru does not offer either Tatkal or walk-in appointments, applicants in Mysuru, in a case of emergency, can book an online appointment in any of the PSKs on Lalbagh Road, Marathahalli or Hubballi. In deserving cases, on production of proof, applications under Tatkal can be processed and the passport issued on the same day, Mr. Kuthati added.

Summary:With the proposed launch of a new initiative by the Regional Passport Office (RPO), Hyderabad, applicants may hope to get their passports sooner than before. As per this initiative, RPO Hyderabad plans to tie up with the city police wing and link the passport software with the police portal. Thus, an applicant will get passport within four days instead of the earlier five days as a major component in application process, police verification, will be done in a day. RPO Hyderabad could be the first in the country to launch this new initiative. "Now, with the link of the software, the process of verification and issuing of passport can be done within four days. Discussions pertaining to this service with the city police chief are completed and within a week or 10 days, the process will begin," Hyderabad Regional Passport Officer E Vishnu Vardhan Reddy told TOI. Earlier, police used to take at least 10 days for verification and after Passport Seva Kendra (PSKs) were set up, the days came down to one week and gradually to five days. But still there was a delay in police verification due to double entry at PSKs and the concerned police stations which will now be mitigated. "No doubt, the cops are doing police verification process quickly, but we found that for one verification there is a double entry. One at Passport Seva Kendra and the other at the police station concerned resulting in delay. In this new initiative, we have decided 'one entry' is enough for police verification," said Reddy.

Summary:Aurangabad rural police has handed over tablets with in-built application for completing police verification of passport. The latest move has ensured bypassing unnecessary steps of getting printouts and sending them manually to the police stations. As a part of the initiative, the special branch's team has deployed tablets at each of the 23 police stations in rural Aurangabad. Authorities believe the move is set to bring down the verification process to three days from five days, ensuring the applicant gets his passport within a few weeks of applying. Aurangabad superintendent of police (rural) Arti Singh said, "Through this application, we aim to speed up the police verification process for the purpose of issuing passports." She said the application would bypass the lengthy manual process and would directly send the file for verification to the passport office in no time. The application has a format for filling in all the details, including Aadhar card details, clicking pictures of all the necessary documents, the applicant along with their house. All the sleuths from the special branch posted with the police station have completed their training. They have also received their unique login and password for the application. Till date, except for Tatkal category, all passports would take not less than 40 days to reach the applicant. As per the existing process after making an online application the applicant gets an appointment for in-person submission of the duly filled passport form, when the applicant has to submit a list of documents at the passport office. The passport office, sends the softcopy of the compiled data to the respective commissioner of police/ superintendent of police passport branch, which gets the printouts of the said file and sends the hard copy to the respective police station for carrying out verification.

Summary:In a bid to meet the public demand and to facilitate submission of applications for the frequent travelers due to extended time in getting appointments, Regional passport office, Chennai will be holding a special passport Mela on Saturday next. An official release here said, the Passport Seva Laghu Kendra (PSLK), at Puducherry will function on Saturday (November 4) like any other normal working day and accept applications as per time slots allotted to the applicants. Approximately 160 applicants are expected to be benefitted from this Mela. To participate in this passport Mela, all applicants have to log on to the official website, register on-line, generate ARN [Application Registration Number], and pay online fees and then take appointment. Applicants participating in the Mela should bring the print-out of ARN with appointment details, to the PSLK along with the requisite documents in originals, plus one set of self-attested photocopies. Applications under Fresh and Re-issue categories only will be accepted, the release said.

Summary:Senior citizens, differently-abled applicants and minors (below five years of age) seeking passport will now have to take a prior online appointment like others as the External Affairs Ministry has done away with the "walk-in" facility that was afforded to these groups. Earlier, applicants belonging to these groups could just obtain a registration number by filling the online form and then visit the Passport Seva Kendra (PSK) as per their convenience and drop the application. All other kinds of applicant have to obtain an appointment, a day and time, and they can only visit the PSK on the said time to submit the application. Passport officials said that the decision has been taken considering the chaos the "walk-in" facility was causing at the PSKs. The move, they said, will also do away with opaqueness in allotment of the tokens. "Till now applicants coming under these categories had to submit their applications online and obtain a registration number and then visit the nearest Passport Seva Kendra (PSK) during prescribed hours. No prior appointment was required," said Anil Kumar Singh, Regional Passport Officer, Pune "Recently, senior citizens and children below five years of age, who were earlier submitting their passport applications in 'walk-in' mode were adjusted in the morning slot which led to overcrowding of applicants under this category. It made the process grossly inconvenient and time-consuming due to uncontrolled influx of senior citizens and minors. The submission of documents through online appointment will ensure that an application is processed as per appointed time in a hassle-free manner," said the officer. The officials said that the doing away with "walk-ins" will help the misuse of tokens. "This has been done to make the issuance of tokens for passport at PSKs, Passport Seva Laghu Kendras (PSLKs) and Post Office Passport Seva Kendra (POPSK) transparent and to streamline the submission of documents for a passport. From now, senior citizen and children below five years of age will also be eligible for issue of tokens at the passport office based on their appointment taken through online system of the Passport Seva Project," said Singh. From time to time, the passport authorities had also granted the "walk-in" facility to other groups to promote passport issuance in specific groups. For example, in November 2016, the Regional Passport Office (RPO) has carried out campaigns in universities and several colleges in the city, like Fergusson College, CoEP, SPPU, Garware College, S P College, BMCC, Poona College and Modern College allotting them special time slots for walk-in processing of their passport applications, without prior appointment, at the Passport Seva Kendra. The facility was also extended to the faculty and employees of the educational institutions. Anil Bhave, who has recently obtained a passport by using the "walk-in" facility, said that instead of discontinuing the practice, the passport department should have tried to address the practical issues that were being caused. "It really helped people like me. It's true that there was overcrowding and chaos. But the reasons behind the chaos should have been addressed rather than stopping the 'walk-in' facility," said Bhave.

Summary:The number of applications for passports has jumped to a million a month on an average, according to officials at the Ministry of External Affairs and Tata Consultancy Services (TCS). Consequently, the 93 Passport Seva Kendras (PSKs) and 58 facilities at Post Offices have generated 350,000 passports this year so far. The number is expected to increase as the government plans to expand the programme of using head post offices as PSKs across the country. In 2008, TCS bagged the project to operate hi-tech Passport Seva Kendras; it started pilots in 2010. Now, it has fine-tuned the service to such an extent that PSKs can be replicated starting from software and backend technology to the color of Seva Kendra buildings anywhere within weeks. PSKs at present employ 5,700 post office and law enforcement staff, of whom 3,000 are TCS employees. "Earlier, when there were only 37 passport offices across the country, people had to arrange travel from far-off places to submit their application. There was no way to track how the application was proceeding in the system. PSKs made the procedure transparent and easy to track. Post office PSKs have brought the service even closer home," said Rajesh Dogra, Head, all-India Operations and Citizen Service Delivery, Passport Seva Project. Of the 800-odd head post offices across the country, 236 have been identified for the first leg of post office PSK implementation. The first phase got 86 centres, 58 of which were made functional in nine months. The remaining 28 will be deployed in the next six months, with another 149 in the pipeline. The goal is to have at least one PSK or post office PSK within a 50 km radius, said Arun Chatterjee, joint secretary (Passport Seva Project) and chief passport officer. In terms of opportunities, this has brought TCS immense credibility and recognition in deploying and maintaining packaged services although they do not discuss how the financial returns have panned out. PSKs are among the most popular requests from ministers for their constituencies. Delegations from across the globe including Australia and the UK have been making trips to PSKs to see them in action. It is certainly a model that other departments and projects seek to replicate, said Chatterjee. At the initial stage, there were a few hurdles in getting the IT and regional passport office staff to work together. However, extensive training programmes and streamlined procedures helped iron out pain points. "Apart from call centres and mobile applications, there are also Twitter teams tracking grievances on social media for passport application related issues. There is also a whole lot of analytics that helps to identify bottlenecks in the system and speed up the process. The fact that we were able to innovate on multiple levels by introducing the Passport Seva Laghu Kendra, Passport Mela and Post Office PSKs to increase the outreach is a matter of great pride for us," added Shalini Mathur, Project Director, Passport Seva Project. One of the biggest achievements of the project has been the successful deployment of PSKs across the north eastern states with another nine in the pipeline in Assam to cater to the huge demand for the services, they said.

Summary:Union Ministry of External Affairs has effected changes in the validity of rent agreement accepted as a proof of address. In a statement, the Regional Passport Officer, S. Maniswara Raja, said that hitherto only a registered rent agreement for more than one year period was accepted as a proof of address. However, in order to mitigate the difficulties faced by the passport applicants, the Ministry had issued orders to accept unregistered rent agreements as well as a valid proof. Meanwhile, the Ministry also changed the rules for seeking reissue of passport for lost passport. Instead of submitting first information report or missing certificate from the police, the applicants can produce lost document report (LDR), Mr. Raja said. DR can be generated by uploading the information of lost passport in the Tamil Nadu Police Department portal along with a photo-identity card. However, this procedure is restricted only for those passports that went missing in Tamil Nadu. Currently, prints of all 10 fingers of the applicants are taken through biometric finger scanners at the Passport Offices and Passport Seva Kendras. However, it is noticed that infants face lot of inconvenience in taking the finger prints. Hence, the Ministry decided to exempt children below five years from this procedure. Similarly, disabled persons without fingers would also be exempted, the RPO said. People can get updates on their passport-related information through WhatsApp - 88701-31225, toll-free number 1800-258-1800.

Summary:According to the report, the process of passport verification has been made digital in Mumbai giving a new fillip to the ambitious drive of Narendra Modi's flagship 'Digital India' Programme. Now the details of passport applicants are being stored in tablets for further verification.

Summary:The External Affairs Ministry is now more "people-oriented" and gives priority to rescuing Indian citizens stranded abroad, which was not the case earlier, Sushma Swaraj said on Sunday. As many as 80,000 Indians stuck abroad due to various reasons have been rescued since the BJP government came to power at the Centre in 2014, Sushma said while inaugurating the country's first 'Videsh Bhavan' here. The 'Videsh Bhavan', which integrates all offices under the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) in Maharashtra, is located in the Bandra Kurla Complex (BKC), a business district in suburban Mumbai. She said that the ruling dispensation has changed the character, the nature and face of the MEA in the last three years. "We have increased the speed of processing of documents, have made our ministry's face more humane, and efficiency of services has improved significantly," Swaraj said. Underlining the Centre's people-oriented character, she said that earlier, the situation was such that priority was not given to rescuing Indian citizens stranded abroad. "Some 80,000 Indian citizens, stuck abroad due to various reasons, have been rescued since 2014," the minister said, adding that every state in the country should have such regional Videsh Bhawan. The Bhavan will house four major offices of the MEA, such as Regional Passport Office, Protector of Emigrants Office, branch Secretariat and the Regional Office of Indian Council of Cultural Relations. An official communication from the MEA stated that the Bhavan will cater to geographical area of Daman and Diu, Dadara and Nagar Haveli, apart from the 12 districts of Maharashtra. The Protection of Emigration Office in the Bhavan will play a crucial role as 70 per cent of the country's emigration applications come from Mumbai centre alone, it said. "When the prime minister talked to us about cooperative federalism and empowering states, my cabinet colleagues asked me what would you do in cooperative federalism policy? I told them that I will take 'Videsh in Pradesh' (and) that is how this Videsh Bhavan came up in Mumbai. "(As) we wish to cater to the all types of needs of Indians, such videsh bhawans are being planned at every state capital to address issues locally. The details would be revealed soon," the minister said. Highlighting her ministry's achievement, she said that we have got 77 Passport Seva Kendras (PSKs) as a legacy in 2014 when the BJP government came to power. "We have commenced 235 new Passport Kendras in the last six months. Nine centres in Maharashtra have also come up. Total 251 PSKs in India have opened since May 2014, which shows our commitment and speed of governance," she said. Unlike in the past, Swaraj said that the Indian government has rescued citizens of other nations, including the US, Germany and France among others, too. "The Yemen conflict was an example of our improved relations with various countries and our growing influence. My colleague Gen (retd.) V K Singh was personally present there in Yemen and rescued people--Indian as well as from other countries. "We had asked the then German and French governments to ask their citizens to register themselves with the Indian embassy in Yemen so that we could rescue them. In many cases, we have saved Pakistani nationals as well. Citizens of 48 nations, including Pakistan, have been rescued by the Indian government at various instances in the last three years," the minister said. On speedy processing of passport applications, she said, "A committee under the MEA found several rules and regulations irrelevant and unnecessary. We had removed all of them and made the procedure easy for our citizens. We realized that with 4-5 documents, a person can obtain a passport. The unnecessary burden of other documents was stopped completely". The minister also referred to the plight of poor Indians who get stuck in countries, like in West Asia, as they are misled by certain private companies and offices. "In Mumbai, there are many private companies and offices who give false information to poor students or labourers, and send them to countries in West Asia or the countries having emigration check point." "If their documents are faulty, these people get stuck there for a long time. We are also thinking about starting something for them," she added. Minister of State for External Affairs Gen (retd.) V K Singh, Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and Administrator of Daman and Diu, Praful Patel were present at the event.

Summary:The number of passport applicants has gone up as the process of applying online has become hassle free, easier and quicker. Figures collected from Regional Passport Office suggest that there has been an increase of 30% in issuing of passports till July as compared to 2016."The office is issuing passports within a month of applying online and going through the process of police verifications which otherwise used to take two to three months, depending upon the type of passports required by applicants," Regional passport officer Sanatan said. Earlier, documents required for applying were marriage certificate, birth certificate, parents' names as per the provisions of Passport Rules 1980 but after the new rules in 2016 only Aadhaar card, PAN card or voter ID card is required along with name of a single parent or guardian to get a passport. Sanatan said in 2016 till December around 94,000 passports were issued, but there has been a quantum leap in 2017, as we have already issued passports to around 56,000 applicants till July 2017."The officer expects that by December end (2017) the total figure would touch over one lakh. "Its true that earlier students used to apply for passports but it was in limited numbers, but now surprisingly among all segments, students and job seekers in the age group of 25-40 years are applying for higher studies and jobs abroad as well." A youth from Ranchi now studying in Bangalore is scheduled to visit the US in August end. He has arrived here for police verification after he applied online for his passport. "It took me just two hours to apply for the passport and now I am only waiting for police verification which will take another week."

Summary:Passports would now be available in both Hindi and English, instead of just English, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj announced today. In changes aimed at easing the process of getting a passport, the minister also announced 10 per cent reduction in passport fee for applicants who are under eight and over 60 and said ration cards could be submitted while applying for tatkal passports. Giving the option of submitting submit a ration card would greatly help people in rural areas who do not have a PAN card. Personal details in passports are now printed only in English and Swaraj said she had received several complaints about it. "Passports should at least be bilingual. All Arab countries have their passport in Arabic, Germany makes it in German and Russia makes it in Russian. Why can't we make it Hindi? "Now, we have given an order to Nashik Printing Press that passports should be (printed) in Hindi as well. So you will receive passports in Hindi and English," Swaraj said at an event to mark 50 years of the Passport Act, 1967. The postal department released a commemorative stamp on the occasion. The event was attended by Communications Minister Manoj Sinha and Ministers of State in the External Affairs Ministry V K Singh and M J Akbar. Swaraj said there was a rise in the demand for passports for the elderly. "There will be a 10 per cent reduction in passport fee for applicants who are under eight and over 60. And this will be applicable from tomorrow," she announced. During the Vedic era, she said, eight years was when children were admitted to a gurukul and vanasprartha (a retired life where time is dedicated to social service) falls in the 60-year age group. Swaraj said she had received several complaints about difficulties in getting a passport. After studying passport rules, she realized that some norms were "unnecessary, obsolete or impractical". She also highlighted the steps taken by her ministry in easing rules for getting the international travel document, especially for orphans, single mothers and divorced women. While applying for tatkal passports, the minister said, applicants could give a copy of their Aadhar card, PAN card or ration card, voter identification card apart from a self- attested letter that he/she does not have any criminal against him/her. Police verification, a major part of the passport issuing process, takes time, the minister pointed out. Swaraj asked other states to emulate Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Delhi, Chandigarh, Gujarat and Goa that complete the police verification process in less than six days. Swaraj sought to assuage fears of passport department officials and said their promotion and career growth would not be hampered because of Post Office Passport Seva Kendras (PoPSK). "No work will be done by the ministry that is detrimental to your interests. I take this responsibility that your interests will not be hampered," she told the passport officials. After the NDA government came to power, the external affairs ministry started PoPSK services in different post offices of the country. In the first phase, it announced 86 such centres and 149 in the second phase.

Summary:Now, you may not have to travel too far to get your passport as the government has come up with a plan to open passport centres within a radius of 50 km from each other. External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj on Saturday announced the launch of 149 new Post Office Passport Seva Kendras (POPSKs). These will be in addition to the 86 POPSKs announced by the Ministry of External Affairs in the first phase, an initiative undertaken jointly by the MEA and the Department of Post. Since coming to power, the NDA government has also opened 16 PSKs, with a priority given to the Northeastern States, Ms. Swaraj said. Prior to this, there were 77 PSKs in the country. Ms. Swaraj said when she took charge in the Ministry, she realized that proximity was the biggest hurdle in applying for passports. We have set up a target that no one has to travel more than a radius of 50 km to get a passport, she said, adding that the Ministry and the Department of Posts were working to map 810 head post offices. She also said more POPSKs would be opened in the third phase after the completion of mapping and checking the viability of post offices. Ms. Swaraj also launched a portal for the Know India Programme (KIP), an initiative by the Ministry for Persons of Indian Origin (PIO) in the age group of 18 to 30 years. The aim of the KIP is to help PIO youth know their roots and contemporary India. Launched in 2004, the scheme has 40 editions under which 1,293 PIO youth have visited India. In 2016, the scheme was revamped to increase its duration from 21 to 25 days, with a 10-day visit to one or two States and preference given to PIOs from Girmitiya countries. From 2016, six KIPs are being organised a year.

Summary:Getting a passport is no more cumbersome, if one has all relevant documents. Ever since Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) eased Passport rules, Passport Seva Project has made the process of issuing passports hassle-free and quick. Madhya Pradesh too has benefitted from it says, Regional Passport Officer, Bhopal, Manoj Kumar Rai in a special TOI conversation. He talks about the challenges in streamlining the process.

Q: How satisfactory has been the work of Passport Seva Kendras?
A: We have achieved most of our targets in the past one year. The objective of setting up the PSKs was to reach out to the people located far away from the RPO. We hope we would get more of them in the state to meet the demand. At present, our approach is to make the citizen's experience pleasurable and hassle-free. An applicant visits our portal, fills up the form with basic user data and a digital file is created. Now, when the applicants come to the office they only should carry four to five original documents.

Q: What common mistakes people make while filling forms?
A: People, especially students, usually make common mistakes by giving wrong or incomplete address. This . makes it difficult to verify applicant's identity. Others include wrong spelling errors in names.

Q: Online system has eased the process a lot, how many passports have you been able to issue annually?
A: Of course, the online system has helped us a lot. Annually we have been able to issue 1.5 lakh passports. In 2016-17, the number of applicants rose by 20%. The total number of passports issued in the country is six crore.

Q: What is the pendency rate presently?
A: We don't have any pendency as of now.

Q How many people in Madhya Pradesh have passports?
A: More than 6 to 7 lakh people possess passports since 2012. This year we are expecting this figure to shoot up by 25%

Q: How do you deal with applications by single mothers or orphans?
A: MEA recently relaxed rules for orphans, single mothers and the good news is we have seen a 20% surge in number of such applications.

Q: What about transgender applicants?
A: Earlier there used to be only two options F and M, but now we also provide option T, which can be used by such applicants.

Q: How is the security process strengthened, how do we know a passport is authentic?
A: Let me make it clear, there is nothing like a fake passport, people often misinterpret it. Documents submitted by an applicant might be fake, but not the passport. We issue passports on original documents. There is a foolproof system in place. Now, digital photographs, signatures and most importantly ghost pictures are taken at the PSK. In addition to this, biometrics are also collected. We now just have to press a button to get whole index regarding applicant's background. Malafide applications get rejected by just a click.

Q: Do you think police verification delays the process? Cops also charge money for verification?
A: I agree. Somewhere and somehow police verification process is proving to be an obstacle in achieving the desired goal. However, I must say police has helped us a lot and I believe delay is because police also tied up with a lot of other things also. So, I kind of justify the delay. I haven't come across any information about cops demanding money. We pay police Rs 150 for each file.

Q: What happened to mPassport application meant for reducing verification time?
A: It would be implemented soon. All formalities are done. The app would certainly ease out the time consumed by the police in verifying the files.

Q: Is there any possibility of parallel agency that can get the files verified?
A: No, not really. Police is the only reliable and authentic agency.

Q: Applicants are not free from the intermediaries, what are your comments on it?
A: Touts and mediators are completely off now. They have been eliminated because of digitization. Although, we cannot boast about no malpractices, still, I can assure you that mediators have been eliminated. Earlier, travel agents were authorized to represent a citizen. This is not the case anymore.

Q: When would we get to see the progress on the e-passport system?
A: The new e-passport passport system proposal is already in the pipeline. The passport will have will have a chip, which will contain biometrics and data fields - printed and digitally stored.

Q: What if there is a case against an applicant in other states and then he applies for passport in other state?
A: Applicants must declare that there is no criminal case registered against him/her in past five years. We treat the information as authentic which is later subject to verification by the means of CCTNS data.

Summary:The Passport Office has made it easier to include the names of step-parents in the passports of their children. Earlier, step-parents had to obtain a court order to put their names as parents in the passports of their children. Now, they'll just have to furnish a declaratory affidavit, and two photo identity proofs to get the job done. Neelam Rani, Regional Passport Officer, Ahmedabad, said, "The rules have been relaxed and the new rules will make it easy for step-parents who had to get a court order earlier." Rani said that now two photo identity proofs carrying the names of the step-parents and a declaratory affidavit will be all that are needed. She said that this will bring huge relief to parents in case of second marriage, and even adoption. The new rule will help to get the names of the step-parents entered easily in the column of biological parents. The Ahmedabad RPO has further decided that they would stop cash collection from walk-in applicants, and all applicants will have to pay digitally. Besides online payment options, there would also be point-of-sale machines at Passport Seva Kendras to accept payment through credit or debit cards. "It has been decided to encourage cashless transactions," said Rani, adding, "The POS machines will be available at the Passport Seva Kendras in Ahmedabad, Vadodara and Rajkot." "However, those going to the centres in Post Offices at Palanpur, Bhuj or Dahod will have to pay online," said Rani.

Summary:Simplification of rules has led to rise in the issuance of passport by 50 percent in this quarter, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj said today. Swaraj said before the NDA came to power, there were 77 Passport Seva Kendras (PSKs). Sixteen new PSKs have been opened by the current government, including in all northeastern states. "In terms of improvement, we have simplified the rules. When we compared this quarter to last, passports have shown a rise by 50 percent due to the simplification of rules," she said. "This shows that the rules were so illogical and impractical that it hindered in acquiring a passport," she said while addressing a press conference to highlight three years "achievements" of her ministry. She said the government has also started Post Office Passport Seva Kendra (POPSK) for the convenience of the people. "In the first phase, we announced to start 86 such centres, of which 52 are already operational. We will announce the second phase in next two-three days," Swaraj said.

Summary:Now, just dial 100 to fix an appointment with a Police Officer at the jurisdictional police station for redressing a non-emergent grievance or any other specific errand. The service has been launched on a trial basis to save both police's and people's time. For instance, for passport verification, an applicant may have to go to a police station, but he/she would not know when to go, whom to meet at the police station and whether the person will be available or not. Now, all they need to do is dial 100 and the police control room staff will fix an appointment with the specific police officer and will guide them to meet the officer at a stipulated time. "They may even set up a conference call with the Station House Officer (SHO) or the officer you have to meet and fix the appointment," M G Nagendra Kumar, DCP (Command Centre), said. The Command Centre at the police commissioner's office on Infantry Road will hire 267 people on contract to handle a total of 100 phone lines (15 lines are operational and 85 others will be added soon). "We have started this 'Dial 100' service on a trial basis. We will study its pros and cons. Once all the 100 lines become operational at the police control room, the effectiveness of technology will be ascertained," Kumar said.

Summary:Minister of State for External Affairs General V. K. Singh inaugurated the Passport Seva Kendra (PSLK) at Subash Nagar here, solving the problem of long wait for passport. Udaipur had a Passport Kendra earlier, however, it was shifted to Jodhpur and since then people had been demanding for a PSK as large number of residents from entire division, including Banswara, Dungarpur, Pratapgarh, Chittorgarh and Rajsamand had to travel to Jodhpur or Jaipur to get a passport made. The passport office building has been facilitated by the Udaipur municipal corporation and the launch have been awaiting for two months. "Passport is no longer a rich man's prerogative as we are getting large number of applications from people of all walks of life. The central government has eased the application process and now a common man can apply online for a passport from his mobile, E-Mitra Kendra or post office. In the coming months, all the 800 head post offices in the country would have a Passport Kendra functioning," Singh said in his inaugural address. He said 50 post office Passport Kendras were launched in May itself. He also hoped that the people of tribal dominant Udaipur division would benefit immensely as troubles faced by them in getting passport related services would be removed at the local level. "In 1955, there were only five passport offices in India. Then we launched PSKs and PSLKs and now we have come out with Post Office Passport Seva Kendras. These Kendras have saved people from the clutches of middlemen and commission agents who charged hefty fees earlier but now people don't have to pay anything extra other than the official fees and get the document within few days of applying," Singh claimed. He said businessmen, corporate executives, students, overseas job-seekers, tourists and pilgrims would benefit largely from the Kendra which would function similarly to any passport office. The new facility would save time and travel cost of the people. After submission of online application, the PSLK would ensure that an applicant need not travel to other places as it can provide photograph and biometric evidences here itself.

Summary:The launch of Post Office Passport Seva Kendras by the Regional Passport Office (RPO), Pune, to bridge the supply gap of passports, has seen positive results. The POPSKs which started with a mere 50 appointments daily less than two months ago have witnessed a three-fold growth in the number of appointments released. Speaking to Sakal Times, Regional Passport Officer, Pune, Atul Gotsurve said, "RPO, Pune opened the first POPSK in Kolhapur in March this year with 50 appointments and now, we release nearly 130 appointments in Kolhapur on a daily basis. Likewise, the POPSK in Pimpri-Chinchwad now caters to 205 appointments daily." According to Gotsurve, the opening of POPSKs has gone a long way in bridging the supply gap. "These have also reduced the load of processing on the Passport Seva Kendra in Mundhwa and ensured that the waiting time for appointments is reduced. We want to bring down the appointment waiting time down to seven days," Gotsurve added. Gotsurve said that more and more people are now applying for passports and the POPSKs are proving to be instrumental in ensuring smooth processing and supply of passports. "Initially, people had to travel to Pune for processing of passports. Many people refrained from applying as the passport office was far away. But, due to the POPSKs, many people are coming forward as the POPSKs are more accessible to them for the processing of applications. Apart from that, the liberalization of passport rules has led to an increase in demand for passports," he added. He also said, "POPSKs have ensured an increased supply of passports under RPO, Pune and we are going to add more POPSKs in cities under the jurisdiction of RPO, Pune."

Summary:According to the report, Railway Minister Manoj Sinha inaugurated Passport Seva Kendra in Ghazipur district's Head Post Office.

Summary:To become digitally-enabled, government departments need to adopt an integrated, inclusive and collaborative approach while harnessing the power of ICT. - Golok Kumar Simli

Whether a private company, a public sector organisation, a government department, an autonomous body or even an individual, we all use digital technology in some form or the other. However, many enterprise community and government departments are stuck within silos on account of leveraging information and communication technology (ICT) in the conventional way. To become truly digital, one has to move beyond the obvious, come out of silos, and adopt an integrated, inclusive and collaborative approach. This would naturally push us to adopt revolutionary technologies, like mobility, cloud, Internet of Things (IoT), etc. When it comes to deriving collective intelligence plus predictive analysis across business functions, we need to adopt another form of digital explosion-Big Data and analytics. Further, we must gather data from social media to get insights into consumer sentiments, especially GenerationY. In addition, we need to tackle the latest buzz on IoT and artificial intelligence (AI). However, digital overhauling requires careful security planning, analysis, deployment and adherence. We have IT Act 2000 to deal with cyber related crime but the Act was enabled almost 17 years back (even the amendment brought in 2008 has crossed more than eight years now). In essence, a 'digital way' of going ahead would result into inclusiveness and empowerment.

Following are the key areas where digital disruption and its explosion could play a major and visible role:

Citizen services: Cost-effective and anywhere, anytime access to public services to be availed by the citizens with real time 24 x 7 availability of information.
National security: Digital journey could help build an integrated law enforcement system, which will hugely benefit the security and other intelligence agencies.
Taxation and revenue forecasting: Integration of revenue, taxation, GST, and financial management on a single digital platform would ensure effective tax administration and fiscal discipline which would strengthen digital economy.
Healthcare administration: Increased reach and accessibility to affordable healthcare by offering various diagnostic and clinical services, proactive monitoring of quality health services and its deficiencies.
Common public infrastructure: Digital can help in effective utilization of the core ICT platform created by the government such as National/ State Data Centers, National Fiber Optic Network, National Knowledge Network, and State Wide Area Network. The possibility of government hybrid/private cloud could also be explored on priority. I am not visualizing miles away, when I say that digital will not only help us in inclusive growth and boost the digital economy but would also facilitate in eradicating silos in the areas of health, education, homeland security, finance, etc.

The writer is Chief of Technology, Passport Seva Programme, Ministry of External Affairs.

Summary:Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday announced that there was no need now for a woman to change her name on passport after marriage or divorce. "Now, it will not be necessary for a woman to give the certificate of her marriage or divorce. It will be up to her to have either the name of her father or mother on the passport," Modi told a gathering of the women's wing of Indian Merchants Chamber over a video link. Modi spelled out a slew of schemes and measures taken for women empowerment. He said that the government has decided to accord women first right to all schemes. Modi said that his government's priority was to register homes constructed under Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana in the names of women as their names are seldom found in property registrations. He added that the government has so far been able to save two crore women from the harmful effects of chulhas (earthen stoves lit with wood or cow dung cakes) by giving them free gas under the Ujjwala scheme.

Summary:Police verification reports, required for the issuance of passports, were completed within an average of 13 days in Goa last year, Minister of State for External Affairs, General V K Singh (retd.), informed the Lok Sabha. Singh stated that various measures have been taken to reduce the time taken to complete police verification report (PVR) and expeditiously issue passports. In 2016, a total of 48,257 passports were issued at the state's regional passport office at Patto, Panaji, down by 3,316 from 2015. A total of 47,180 passports were issued in 2014. The Ministry is making efforts to stick to the desired timeline and Singh brought it to the notice of Lok Sabha that during 2016, the average time taken for submission of police verification reports to issue fresh passports in the country reduced from 34 to 29 days in 2015, and 42 days in 2014. Last year police verification reports were completed within an average of 13 days in Goa, five days in Telangana, 10 days in AP, 12 days in Chandigarh and 14 days in Delhi. In order to ease and expedite the issuance of police verification report, the number of questions asked in the questionnaire has also been reduced from 12 to 9. A passport police app was launched last year for speedy submission of reports. With the app, field level verification officers can directly induct the PVR into the system digitally. Under the implementation of the Passport Seva Project, applicants can apply for their passports online, uploading relevant documents and making the payment online through debit/credit card or SBI net-banking /SBI challan, schedule an appointment and then visit the Passport Seva Kendra (PSK). TOI reported that the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) had approved the setting-up of a Passport Seva Kendra in South Goa. South Goa MP Narendra Sawaikar said a district passport office, a long-pending demand of the people, would be set up soon. "The MEA has granted approval to set up a passport centre in the premises of a post office. Officers from the passport office will be deputed to man this facility, which will function like an extension of the passport office," Sawaikar said, adding that the facility would be set up in Margao. "The South Goa collector, officials of the passport office and the postmaster general are working at identifying a location," he said, besides adding that the facility will be functional by March-end or from April.

Summary:For Maheswaran Ramasamy, a senior citizen, it was a pleasant experience to visit the Passport Seva Kendra (PSK) in the city. "The ambience is good. The reception accorded to me was also good. The entire process turned out to be so simple that it was over soon and I was out of the office in less than 30 minutes," he said. He recalled how he waited in a long queue under a scorching sun a decade ago to get his new booklet in Tiruchi, as the Madurai office was started only in December 2007. "Compared to the dinghy Tiruchi office, the Passport Seva Kendra in Madurai resembles more like a corporate office what with the highly-skilled staff employing modern technology to get the job done in a jiffy," he said. "After I got my online appointment, I went to the PSK and the process was so smooth that I returned home in less than two hours much to the surprise of my wife. She asked me whether I had left any document at home and needed to go to the passport office again. We were all the more thrilled to see the new booklet at our doorstep in five working days," he summed up. This is not a strange case as there has been a transformation in the issuance of passports and other services, said Regional Passport Officer S. Maniswara Raja. The Ministry of External Affairs has simplified the procedure that gone are the days when applicants had to furnish a number of documents for residence proof, identity proof and others. It is no more cumbersome, while at the same time, the applicants should also produce genuine information as cross checks at random by senior officers may land the applicants in trouble, he said. The website www.passportindia.gov.in, is not only user-friendly, but also self-explanatory. From filling up the application form online to remitting the prescribed fee online, the process is simple. The applicant must just bring a printout of the Application Registration Number (ARN) on the appointed hour to the PSK. Mr. Raja said the Madurai office issued 1,400 new passports every working day. It gave appointments to 900 applicants in a day. There had been a steep rise after the application procedure was simplified in December 2016, he said. The PSK is manned by trained personnel from Tata Consultancy Services who are assisted by Passport Officers in verifying documents and granting approvals. During a visit to the PSK at Kochadai, the applicants, who spoke with this correspondent, also shared that the process was quick. Rajkumari R, a city resident, said she had come to get her passport reissued. I just walked in and after verification was done, I came out in less than 30 minutes," she said. An officer at the PSK said that from issuing 491 passports in December 2007, the Madurai office had issued 1576858 passports till date. Since the procedures had been simplified, the numbers are expected to go up and by thus year-end, the Madurai RPO is likely to cross the three lakh mark, he said. It was 2.43 lakh in 2016. College students can walk into the RPO on Wednesdays and Thursdays and get their work done. If the documents required were satisfactory, they would get the booklet without any delay. Though public had been sensitized not to approach touts or travel agents, still there were few complaints of fake seals of government offices being used for issuance of birth certificates by the touts against whom action was initiated, an officer said.

Summary:The Regional Passport Office, Hyderabad, has decided to issue 'single token' to members of a family seeking appointment for issue of passports. Regional Passport Officer E Vishnu Vardhan Reddy on Saturday announced the decision at a Passport Mela held exclusively for South Central Railway (SCR) staff and their families at Begumpet Passport Seva Kendra (PSK). Vishnu Vardhan said, "We have noticed that members of a family are facing a peculiar problem due to getting appointments the same day but at different timings. As a result, parents cannot attend for minors during the process of verification of applications. Now, in the new system, the members of family should contact the head of the Passport Seva Kendra and get a single token. "Passport applications are being processed at different time slots as per online appointment schedules. This is leading to long waiting hours for family members. From now onwards, members of the same family, who have otherwise obtained different appointment slots on a particular day can avail the 'walk-in' family tokens at all 'PSKs' under jurisdiction of Regional Passport Office, Hyderabad, for submission and processing of their passport applications," added the passport official. The RPO also said that due to simplification of the rules and regulations, applicants will get passports as they get cinema tickets on the spot. "With the police department's partnership, we are issuing passports in a week under 'normal' scheme." By the end of this month, we will launch passport services through Head Post Offices in Warangal and Mahbubnagar," he said.

Summary:A Passport Seva Laghu Kendra (PSLK) was inaugurated here on February 22 by Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan. Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chauhan along with Minister of State for External Affairs General Dr. V.K. Singh and other dignitaries were also present at the event. Indore PSLK is the second Passport Seva Kendra in Madhya Pradesh after Bhopal. It would be the 90th PSK which would function as an extended arm of the Regional Passport Office (RPO) of Bhopal. Passport applicants from total 15 districts of Indore and Ujjain Commissionerate will be facilitated at PSLK Indore. Initially, 100 appointments per day would be released which will be increased gradually on need basis. During the year 2016, more than 147000 passport applications from Madhya Pradesh were processed by the Regional RPO in Bhopal. It is integrated with Passport Seva Project (PSP), a high impact citizen-centre e-governance initiative as part of the National e-Governance Plan. More than 4.35 crore passport service applications have been processed since the inception of the new system which is fully online. The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) has taken a big leap in the country in improving governance in passport issuance by focusing on faster services delivery, transparency, citizen-friendliness and convenience.

Summary:Following the liberalization of passport policies announced on 23 December 2016, there has been a 30 percent surge in demand for passports and on February 7, the Passport Office processed a record 53,400 applications. The government has been constantly improving the ease with which the passport can be delivered to the seekers through its Passport Seva Kendras that it has opened across the country in recent years."Following the liberalization of passport policies, we have seen nearly 30% surge in demand for passports. For example, a record number of 53,400 applications were processed on 7.2.2017 out of which 49,259 were fresh applications. This is the highest since the commencement of the Passport Seva Project (in 2010)," Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) spokesperson Vikas Swarup said. The growing economy and globalization meant the demand for passport, an essential travel document to foreign countries, had been increasing by around 10 per cent annually. In December last year, following recommendation from a three-member Committee drawing members from the MEA and the Ministry of Women and Child Development. The rules were brought up to speed up the process with changing times. The new rules was aimed at hassle-free issuance of passports for single parents, orphans, adopted children, children born out of wedlock and sadhus/sanyasis. Now the government has opened post office Passport Kendras in 56 areas, where Head Post Offices will deliver passport services. "The objective of this partnership is to extend passport services on a larger scale and to ensure wider area coverage," Swarup added.

Summary:The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) and the Department of Posts (DOP) last month announced their decision to utilize the Head Post Offices (HPO) in the various States as Post Office Passport Seva Kendra (POPSK) for delivering passport related services to the people. The objective of this partnership is to extend passport services on a larger scale and to ensure wider area coverage of the travel document. The pilot projects for this joint venture between MEA and DOP was inaugurated on January 25, 2017 at the HPO at Mysuru in Karnataka by Ananth Kumar, Minister for Chemicals and Fertilizers and Parliamentary Affairs; and at the Post Office at Dahod in Gujarat by Gen (Retd.) V.K.Singh, Minister of State for External Affairs, and Jaswantsinh Sumanbhai Bhabhor, Minister of State for Tribal Affairs, Government of India. The POPSK at these two places have been running successfully since their inauguration. One hundred appointments are being released every day for each of these POPSK. With the successful operationalization of these two pilot projects, the Government has now decided to scale up this programme by opening 56 POPSKs at the following places in the first batch of expansion:

1. Andhra Pradesh- Kurnool and Kadappa

2. Assam- Silchar

3. Bihar- Purnia, Gopalganj, Muzaffarpur, Bhagalpur and Siwan

4. Chhattisgarh- Surguja

5. Daman- Daman

6. Diu- Diu

7. Dadra and Nagar Haveli- Silvasa

8. Delhi- East Delhi, Noth East Delhi, North West Delhi, South Delhi, West Delhi

9. Gujarat- Bhuj, Palanpur

10. Haryana- Hisar, Karnal

11. Faridabad

12. Himachal Pradesh- Palampur, Hamirpur

13. J-K- Leh, Udhampur

14. Jharkhand- Jamshedpur, Dhanbad, Deoghar

15. Karnataka- Belgaum, Devangere, Hassan, Gulbarga

16. Kerala- Pathanamthitta, Kasargod

17. Lakshadweep- Kavaratti

18. Madhya Pradesh- Gwalior, Satna, Jabalpur, Vidisha

19. Odisha- Rourkela, Sambalpur, Koraput

20. Rajasthan- Kota, Jaisalmer, Jhunjhunu, Bikaner, Jhalawar

21. Tamil Nadu- Salem, Vellore

22. Telangana- Mehbubnagar, Warangal

23. West Bengal- Asansol, Nadia, North Dinajpur, North Kolkata

The MEA and DOP are working closely for the early commencement of passport related services at the above mentioned POPSK. Once fully functional, applicants who apply for their passports on-line through the Passport Portal will be able to schedule an appointment at the above POPSK to complete the formalities necessary prior to the issue of the passport. Following the liberalization of passport policies announced on 23 December, 2016, we have seen nearly 30 percent surge in demand for passports. For example, a record number of 53,400 applications were processed on 7.2.2017 out of which 49,259 were fresh applications. This is the highest since the commencement of the Passport Seva Project. Our Passport Offices are conducting special Passport Melas during the weekends to cater to the increasing demand for passports. The pilot projects of the Post Office Passport Seva Kendras (POPSK) have been running successfully at Mysuru and Dahod. We have been releasing 100 appointments for Mysuru and Dahod POPSK per day with cent per cent utilization. Appointments for Mysuru are now available in ten days while at Dahod it is available the next day. These are clear indicators that the liberalization of the passport policies and opening of the POPSK have been successful efforts of the Government that have been welcomed by our citizens. We expect that opening of these additional POPSK would further help our citizens in getting passports easily.

Summary:The Passport Seva Project (PSP), an ambitious Mission Mode Project of the Government of India, is being successfully run in the Public Private Partnership (PPP) mode as part of the National e-Governance Plan. It has emerged as one of the most noticeable statutory and citizen-centric services being rendered by the Government. M/s Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) is the Service Provider for the PSP. At present, 89 Passport Seva Kendras (PSK) with best-in-class amenities are operating across the country as extended arms of the 38 Passport Offices, thus providing extended reach to passport applicants. Several quantitative and qualitative improvements in the delivery of passport services in the country have been made during the last two and a half years. Over the years, there has been an expansion in the volume of passport related services. Government of India rendered 1.15 crore passport and other related services during the calendar year 2016.The Ministry of External Affairs has engaged closely with the Police Departments across States/ Union Territories to reduce the time taken in completion of Police Verification Report (PVR) for expeditious issuance of Passports. The Department of Posts has been a valuable partner of the Ministry of External Affairs in the PSP by ensuring timely dispatch and delivery of the passports from the Passport Offices to the registered address of the passport applicants. In order to streamline, liberalize and ease the process of issue of passport, the Ministry of External Affairs has made several changes towards the end of last year in the realm of passport policy which is expected to benefit the citizens of India applying for a passport. It is expected that these changes in the Passport Rules would further ease the process for passport applicants in getting their passports. The objective of the Government has been to cater to the demand for passports and to reach out to the people located far away from the Passport Offices. One approach has been to open PSK at various locations and under this, the Government has decided to inaugurate additional four PSK at Indore in Madhya Pradesh, Udaipur in Rajasthan, Siliguri in West Bengal and Sholapur in Maharashtra in the coming months. A second approach has been to organize Passport Seva Camps at various locations. During 2016, 80 such Camps have been organized at various locations across the country in which 34,111 passport applications were processed. In order to extend passport services to our citizens on a larger scale and to ensure wider area coverage, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) and the Department of Posts (DOP) have now agreed to utilize the Head Post Offices (HPO) in the various States as Post Office Passport Seva Kendra (POPSK) for delivering passport related services to the citizens of our country. The pilot projects for this joint venture between MEA and DOP would be inaugurated on 25 January, 2017 at the HPO at Mysuru in Karnataka and at Dahod in Gujarat. Appointments for passport applicants have been released for these two places beginning 25 January, 2017. Applicants, who apply for their passports online through the passport portal, can now schedule an appointment and then visit the designated POPSK to complete the formalities akin to those at the PSK necessary prior to the issue of the passport. Delivery of passport related services through the POPSK would be yet another citizen-centric measure of the Government in taking IT- driven public services closer to the people of the country. This partnership would be an important step forward enabling the Government to continue to deliver passport related services to the citizens in a timely, transparent, more accessible, and reliable manner through streamlined processes and a committed, trained and motivated workforce. Once the pilot projects are operationalized successfully, the Government intends to scale up this programme by opening POPSK in all the HPO in a phased manner.