The Union Minister of External Affairs – Ms. Sushma Swaraj on 26th June 2018 have launched a new scheme that allows applicants to apply for a new passport from anywhere in India, irrespective of their domicile state. Ms. Swaraj also launched a mobile application to facilitate the applicants while applying for the passport, paying the fees, and scheduling appointments during the application procedure. The mobile application is well equipped and is available on Android as well as iOS platforms for the users.
On the occasion of the 6th Passport Seva Diwas, this new scheme has been launched to facilitate the people applying for passports in India. By virtue of this new scheme, an applicant can choose the Regional Passport Office (RPO) and Passport Seva Kendra (PSK) / Post Office Passport Seva Kendra (POPSK) in accordance with their convenience after the submission of the application. An official from the Ministry of External Affairs also stated that an applicant can submit the required information quoting their current residential address, not falling within the jurisdiction of the chosen RPO also. Furthermore, the police verification would be conducted only at the specified address by the applicant.
For example, a resident of Kota, who is temporarily residing in Kolkata will now be able to apply at a local PSK / POPSK falling in the jurisdiction of RPO – Kolkata. There would be no need for the applicant to apply for the passport and visit Kota to submit the required documents under Kota RPO.
This initiative is absolutely based on the earnestness of efforts put in by the Government of India to benefit the applicants living in their non-domicile region.
This paperless procedure of the mPassport Seva App will now allow the applicants to obtain their passports without any hassle.
Ms. Sushma Swaraj also emphasized the fact that with this initiative a revolutionary change has been incorporated in the ongoing processes to facilitate citizens in their passport application procedure. After the formation of the Ministry of External Affairs, only 77 Passport Seva Kendras had been functional in 48 years. But in the last four years, the current government has been able to add another 231 Passport Seva Kendras to assist the citizens of India. Overall more than 300 odd PSK’s are functional in the country and in the near future, all 543 constituencies will have at least one PSK or POPSK. The minister also quoted that many irrelevant information documents like marriage certificates, are no longer required for issuance of passports.
