K Rajda & S Bodiwala
CHICAGO: The Passport Seva Program has brought in a huge transformation in delivery of Passport Services in India. This has seen a sea change in last four and a half years. The Indian Consulate in Chicago moved along with the other Indian consulates in USA and launched its Passport Service Program last week in the presence of Chicago elites and some passport applicants.
At the Chicago ceremony, the first five applicants received their passports within 24 hours.
According to Consulate sources, there was 19% growth in 2017 for passport related services. The monthly submission of applications has crossed one million mark for the first time. More than six crore passports have been issued through the Passport Seva system. The Ministry took many significant steps to improve the service delivery experience for the citizens.
Not only did the work of simplifying passport rules has been achieved with the same vigor but passport services have also been taken closer to the doorsteps of the citizens. The Ministry with Department of Posts took the decision to start Passport Seva Kendras in Head Post Offices. As a result, 236 Post Office Passport Seva Kendras (POPSKs) have been operationalised as on date and many more are in pipeline. This when added to 36 Passport Offices and 93 erstwhile Passport Seva Kendras makes a total of 365 Passport Offices for public.
The Ministry has initiated the integration of Passport Seva Program at all Indian Embassies and Consulates across the globe. As part of this initiative, the Ministry successfully initiated the pilot at High Commission of India, London followed by Consulate General of India, Birmingham and Edinburgh.
In USA, the Ministry has completed the implementation of this program at its Embassy in Washington D.C., CGI New York, CGI San Francisco, CGI Atlanta and CGI Houston. It is a matter of great pleasure for the Ministry to launch the Global Passport Seva Program at Consulate General of India, Chicago for the Indian diaspora residing here, thus making all Indian Consulates and Embassy located in the US, live with the new system.
The new system will help in easy and convenient application submission process, will usher-in standardization, digital overhauling, end-to-end status tracking and enhance security.
The Government of India plans to roll out the Global Passport Seva Program at all Indian Embassies/ Consulates within the next 3-4 months.
