New passport may be issued in 15 days and renewal in 3 days

NEW DELHI: Government is exploring the possibility of setting up a mechanism for issuance of passports within 15 days and renewal of the document within three days.

In this direction, Cabinet Secretary B K Chaturvedi on Tuesday held a meeting with top officials of the ministries of External Affairs, Home Ministry and Information Technology to assess how such a proposal can be implemented, sources said.

Chaturvedi asked the Ministries of External Affairs and Home Affairs to work together to make such a proposal a reality, they said.

Besides the Cabinet Secretary, the meeting was attended by Foreign Secretary Shyam Saran, IT Secretary D S Mathur and senior officials of the Home Ministry.

The move is based on the External Affairs Ministry's proposal to do away with the system of address verification of an applicant.

The MEA intends to shift to the system of issuing passports only on the basis of identification of an applicant rather than verification of his or her residence by police.