Finding passport offices in India is a menace and everyone knows that. Visiting regional offices and then co-ordinating with the city offices, the entire process was tedious and almost a nightmare.
However, the government in an effort to reform the system has come up with a plan to establish passport centres within a radius of 50 km, ensuring you don’t have to travel too far.
External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj on Saturday announced that the government would soon open 149 new Post Office Passport Seva Kendra (POPSK).
GOI announces 149 new post office #passport kendras, aims a centre every 50 km. @SushmaSwaraj @MEAIndia pic.twitter.com/FLrb7tPlG2
— MissionBJP 2019 (@MissionBJP2019) June 17, 2017
This is an initiative undertaken jointly by the MEA and Department of Post, and is in addition to the 86 POPSKs announced by the Ministry of External Affairs in the first phase. Swaraj said that, after coming to power, the NDA government had also opened 16 PSKs, with a priority given to northeastern states.
Thus, overall 251 PSK’s and POPSK’s have been opened or announced since May 2014, whereas before only 77 PSK’s existed.
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Swaraj when she took charge of the ministry realised that “proximity” was the biggest hurdle in applying for passports. “We have set up a target that no one has to travel more than a radius of 50 kms to get a passport,” she said, adding that her ministry and the DoP are working to map 810 head post offices and extend the ambit of the scheme.
She also said more POPSKs would be opened in the third phase after the completion of mapping and checking the viability of post offices.
There is a portal being launched for the Know India Programme (KIP), an initiative for the age group of 18 to 30 years by the Ministry for the Persons of an Indian Origin (PIO) . KIP’s aim is to help PIO youths familiarise with their roots and contemporary India. Launched in 2004, the scheme has 40 editions under which 1,293 PIO youths have visited India.
The scheme was revamped in 2016 to increase the duration to 25 days, wtih a 10-day visit to one or two state, with preference given to PIO’s from Girmitiya countries. Presently, six KIPs a year are being organised.
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Vani Roa, joint-secretary (Overseas Indian Affairs) said through the portal, the interested participants can directly apply for the programme. Earlier, those interested in the programme had to send an email to India high commissions and embassies to apply for it.
Referring to Girmitiya countries, Swaraj said the Britishers took several Indians to their colonies, primarily in Africa and the Caribbean by signing an agreement.
However, they were unable to pronounce the word “agreement”, thus it became “grimit”.
The countries where these Indians were taken under the “pretext of giving a good job” by signing such agreements became “girmitiya” countries.