New Delhi, Jun 24 (PTI) The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) rendered 1.65 crore passport-related services to citizens in 2023, registering an annual growth of nearly 15 per cent.
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said this while commending the personnel for efficient passport-related service delivery.
The MEA commemorated the 12th Passport Seva Divas on Monday to mark the enactment of the Passports Act on June 24, 1967.
Coinciding with this, a three-day Regional Passport Officers (RPO) conference was organised in Delhi.
“I am happy to note that in 2023, the ministry rendered 1.65 crore passport-related services to our citizens,” Jaishankar said in a message to the conference.
“The year 2023 noticed a commendable annual growth of nearly 15 per cent in passport and other related services,” the minister said.
The monthly submission of applications crossed the 14 lakh mark in 2023, he said.
The external affairs minister also underlined the need for leveraging the power of the latest technologies to further improve the experience of the citizens.
The MEA has so far operationalised an expansive network of 440 post office passport seva kendras (POPSKs).
The POPSKs and the existing 93 passport seva kendras (PSKs) take the total to 533 passport application processing centres under 37 regional Passport Offices (RPOs) in the country.
Jaishankar appreciated the passport delivery programme as one of the most successful and well-appreciated models of efficient service delivery by the government of India.
The RPOs conference on June 22 was inaugurated by Kirti Vardhan Singh, Minister of State for External Affairs.
In his remarks, he highlighted the importance of continuous improvement of the passport delivery system.
Singh also presented Passport Seva Puraskars for the best performing passport offices and passport officers.
Secretary (Consular, Passport and Visa division) in the MEA Muktesh Pardeshi commended the central passport organisation on its achievements and stressed the need for innovative solutions to further improve the passport issuance system.
The conference saw the participation of passport officers from 37 passport offices across India and officers of the central passport organisation led by Joint Secretary and Chief Passport Officer K J Srinivasa.
Productive discussions were held on various issues including the upgradation of the passport seva project, ePassports, human resources, capacity building, public grievance handling and security-related issues with a goal of providing faster, secure and hassle-free passport services to citizens, the MEA said in a statement. PTI MPB RT RT
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