MEA marks Passport Seva Divas, Jaishankar highlights 15 pc annual growth in passport services

New Delhi [India], June 24 (ANI): The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) on Monday commemorated the 12th Passport Seva Divas to mark the enactment of the Passports Act on June 24, 1967 and External Affairs Minister Dr S. Jaishankar highlighted the annual growth of nearly 15 per cent in passport and related services.
Coinciding with this, a three-day Regional Passport Officers (RPO) Conference was organized from June 22 to 24 in Delhi.
The Ministry of External Affairs in a press release also carried a message by Dr S. Jaishankar and said, "In his message on the Passport Seva Divas, Dr S. Jaishankar highlighted the commendable annual growth of nearly 15 per cent in passport and related services wherein the Ministry rendered 1.65 crore passport related services to citizens in 2023."
"He also underlined the leveraging of the power of latest technologies to further improve the citizen experience. MEA has so far operationalised an expansive network of 440 Post Office Passport Seva Kendras (POPSKs), which, along with 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," the press release further added.
Jaishankar also 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 External Affairs Minister also took to his official X handle and posted, "On the occasion of the 12th Passport Seva Diwas, my best wishes to all passport officers in India and abroad. Their efforts in furthering our mission of citizen-centric foreign policy are commendable."
He added, "We are committed to making our passport services quick, reliable, accessible, citizen-friendly, transparent and accessible."
Notably, the RPOs Conference on June 22 was inaugurated by Kirti Vardhan Singh, Minister of State for External Affairs. He highlighted the importance of continuous improvement of the passport delivery system and leveraging emerging technologies to further better the citizen experience.
He also presented the Passport Seva Puraskars for the best performing Passport Offices and Passport Officers, the officials of the Central Passport Organisation, State Police organizations and personnel of the Service Provider.
Secretary (CPV and OIA) Muktesh Pardeshi commended the Central Passport Organization on its achievements and stressed the need for innovative solutions to further improve the passport issuance system through the creation of a well-trained, capable and motivated cadre of Passport employees.
The RPO Conference saw the participation of Passport Officers from 37 Passport Offices across India and officers of the Central Passport Organization led by Joint Secretary and Chief Passport Officer Dr 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, Videsh Sampark programme, security-related issues etc. to provide faster, secure and hassle-free passport services to citizens. (ANI)