Bangalore: No more long-winding queues and unending wait while applying for passports.The state will have four passport seva kendras (PSK) and one mini-PSK for Gulbarga.Karnataka is the second state after Punjab to have these kendras.
External affairs minister S M Krishna,who inaugurated the pilot PSK on Lalbagh Road on Saturday,said the two pilot projects in Bangalore and Chandigarh will pave the way to set up 77 such centres across India.
They will make the application process more user-friendly;front-end activities will be outsourced to private partners.Also,online links will be established with district police headquarters in all states for quick verification of the applicants credentials.
These reforms were needed due to unintentional delays.A serious exercise has begun to bring about structural reforms too.Police clearance is usually time-consuming and security concerns have to be addressed as well, Krishna said.
Currently,the number of passports issued is 57 lakh,but its likely to reach the 1-crore mark in 2011.PSKs have been started to meet increasing demand.The main data centre for PSKs will be in Delhi;a data recovery centre will be in Chennai and other network operations unit will be based in Delhi, Krishna said.
WHAT WILL IT DO
Citizens can take appointments directly on the phone and in 17 languages.They can get information on the status of their application any time they want.
FEATURES OF PSKs
77 to be opened across India Government employees to perform sensitive functions such as granting,printing,despatching and monitoring passports Centralized IT system to which all PSKs,passport offices and district police headquarters will be connected Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) is the service provider for these operations The pilot PSKs in Bangalore and Chandigarh will be operational soon Online services present for fixing appointments and end-to-end tracking of applications
VARIOUS SERVICES
Issue fresh passport (after police verification): Despatch following three working days after submission Issue fresh passport (pre-police verification): Three working days plus time taken for police verification Re-issue of passport: Despatch after three working days following submission Issue/re-issue passport under tatkal scheme: Same day Change of name/ other particulars: Three working days
Source : Times of india
2 Comments
if address and contact numbers were there, the information would have been complete. Its very difficult to find out otherwise.
You can apply online using the link given below and you can contact toll free no.18002581800
http://rpobangalore.gov.in/frm_online_reg_public.asp