Dept of Posts, MEA sign pact to set up additional 600 passport seva kendras at POs: Jyotiraditya Scindia

New Delhi: The Department of Posts and the Ministry of External Affairs have signed an agreement to set up an additional 600 passport seva kendras at post offices, Union Telecom Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia said on Friday.

Speaking at the India Economic Enclave 2024, the minister said India Post has about 6,40,000 points of sales across the country and no one in the world can match its scale.

"In the next 3-4 years, we will become a citizen-centric service. We have signed an agreement with the MEA today where we will set up 600 more networks for passport seva kendras, hopefully servicing one crore citizens per year through our network," the minister said.

Launched in 2017, the Post Office Passport Seva Kendras (POPSKs) service has been instrumental in facilitating passport-related services to over 1.52 crore citizens.

The network of POPSKs has grown significantly over the years, with 442 centres operational nationwide.

According to an official note, the 600 POPSKs centres will be set up across the country by 2028-29.

"We will also expand postal, life insurance and our RPLI (rural postal life insurance). And of course, the mainstay has to be parcel," Scindia said, adding that the postal department is transforming itself to become more of a logistic company.