Mumbai: Police verification for passport to be done in 1-week
Soon, police verification for passports for people in Mumbai and Pune will be done in a week, as against the 20 days that cops take currently, said Dnyaneshwar M Muley, secretary, MEA. He cited the examples of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, where police verification is done in three days, while saying that they are working on a technology to bring down the time span.
'To combat passport delivery delay, passport offices in every district'
Muley said that the passport dispatch process is still fine in Mumbai and Pune, but it worsens as one goes towards the interiors. Taking this situation into account, Muley said that they are planning to set up passport offices in every district, space for which will be provided by the postal department. He was speaking at a function organized by Vidisha Vichar Manch.
'By May, 251 Passport Seva Kendras will be opened'
From Independence till 2014, only 77 Passport Seva Kendras were opened. In the past year, 180 new centers were opened, with the last one in Gir. "By April 31, the number will touch 251," Mulay added. Each parliamentary constituency will get at least one passport-center.
Manpower shortage is an issue, says Pune cop
Meanwhile, a Pune cop said that checking an applicant's background takes time. Moreover, "manpower shortage at a police station's level is an issue. Progressive steps like appointing a dedicated police person for passport have been taken," he said. TCS had joined the passport issuing process in 2008 and 'has contributed immensely and it was necessary to renew their contract till 2020," Mulay said.
