Passport office to tie-up with postal dept to help rural applicants

The Regional Passport Office (RPO) is working on the possibility of associating with the department of posts to help the applicants from rural background to fill online applications for passports in post offices across the State.

PS Karthigeyan, Regional Passport Officer, disclosed this to mediapersons on the sidelines of a programme organised by the Federation of Karnataka Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FKCCI), here on Thursday.

Karthigeyan said: “The initiative, which is still in the primary stage, has been planned across the country. Presently, passport applicants who do not have facilities like computer and internet connection are required to approach someone else to register for them, online. Although, we have Citizen Service Centres which offer services through BengaluruOne, MangaluruOne, etc, the reach of this network is less and limited to City.”

“Whereas, India Post reaches every nook and corner of the country. Hence, we are thinking of tapping the network for online registration,”

If the plan materialises, the postal employees will be trained to help applicants for filling forms, arranging necessary documents like proof of age, residential address and then uploading it online. After completing the registration, the customers can easily walk into the Passport Seva Kendras for personal interview based on the date of appointment, he said.

24 lakh passports issued
Addressing the members of FKCCI, Karthigeyan said the Passport Seva Kendras had so far issued 24 lakh passports since its inception in May, 2010.

In 2013, as many as 4.36 lakh passports were issued, 5.24 lakh in 2014 and 5.75 lakh passports were issued till December this year, which is likely to cross 6 crore by this year-end. We were able to collect Rs 94 crore this year and Rs 400 crore was collected in the last four years, he said.

In order to register for children’s passport, both parents will have to submit a copy of their passports. After receiving complaints, we have made it mandadatory to get the consent of parents.

CCTNS system
With regard to police verification being touted as the reason for delay in issuing passport, the Regional Passport Officer said, with the proposal to implement Crime and Criminal Tracking Network System (CCTNS) across the country, at least one third of applicants will be potential beneficiaries.

The system will enable the police to check the criminal background, identity and other details of the customer, who has applied for re-issue of passport, without personally visiting the applicant’s home to verify details.