In just two days, the central government’s passport seva mobile application, which allows users to apply for a passport from anywhere in the country, has registered one million downloads.
In just two days, the central government’s passport seva mobile application, which allows users to apply for a passport from anywhere in the country, has registered one million downloads.
Sushma Swaraj tweeted: “Passport Seva mobile App launched recently by the Ministry of External Affairs recently has already registered 1 million downloads,” Swaraj tweeted.
Here is how you can apply
Under the new scheme, a person can now choose the Regional Passport Office (RPO) and the Passport Seva Kendra (PSK) or Post Office Passport Seva Kendra (POPSK) for submitting the application.
The application can be submitted irrespective of whether the person's present residential address was within the jurisdiction of the selected RPO or not, a Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) statement said.
The police verification, if required for a specific passport, would be conducted at the address specified in the application form, it said.
The passport will be printed and despatched by the RPO selected for application submission by the applicant to the address specified in the application, the statement said.
Fact Check: Did Sushma Swaraj announce any change in passport rules today?
For example, a resident of Jaipur, who is temporarily residing in Kolkata, will now be able to apply at a PSK or POPSK under the RPO, Kolkata, and will not have to travel all the way back to Jaipur to submit an application for a passport at a PSK or POPSK under the Jaipur RPO.
This citizen-centric initiative of the ministry is expected to benefit the applicants who are unable to apply at a PSK or POPSK near their ordinary place of residence, the statement said.
Passport applicants will no longer be called to the police station, nor will they have cops at their door for address verification.
The Ministry of External Affairs has waived off the address verification in the police report. With the new process, police need not call applicant and visit his/her house for any enquiry.
“Several applicants have said the cops harass them. This delays the process. So, the MEA has relaxed the norms. The contact between an applicant and the police has been dispensed with. Police have to check the criminality angle and revert to RPO without making any contact to the applicant.
This will be done by checking the police records. MEA has tried to address the complaints of police harassment in police verification. It was started on June 1 as a pilot project and we held meeting with police to explain the new changes in the police report,” Neelam Rani, Regional Passport Officer said.
“The ministry believes that only a few are involved in forgery and for them, we should not put others in a difficult situation. We will be taking measures to prevent those,” Rani said when asked if the waive off would lead to a security lapse.
RPO Ahmedabad recorded a 22% growth in 2017-18 with a total of 6,43,000 passports being issued in one year as against 5,27,000 in 2016-17.
Interestingly, applicants can now apply for a passport from anywhere in the country.
The government announced that an individual can apply for a passport from anywhere in India irrespective of the person’s residential address.
To make the process easier, a mobile application, mPassport Seva App, was also launched recently.
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
 "Sushma Swaraj")
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
)
)
)
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}