New Delhi: Now, you may not have to travel too far for getting your passport as the government has come up with a plan to open passport centers within a radius of 50 km.
External affairs minister Sushma Swaraj Saturday announced that the government will soon open 149 new Post Office Passport Seva Kendras (POPSK).
The new centers in Kerala will be opened at Idukki and Chengannur. These will fall under the Kochi regional passport office.
These 149 centers will be in addition to 86 POPSKs announced by the ministry of external affairs in the first phase, an initiative undertaken jointly by the MEA and the department of post.
Since coming to power, the NDA government has also opened 16 PSKs, with a priority given to northeastern states, Swaraj said.
Proximity – the biggest hurdle
The minister said when she took charge in the ministry, she realized 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 her ministry and the DoP are working to map 810 head post offices and extend the ambit of the scheme.