Lok Sabha Question No. 834 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2024-07-26
Subject: Passport Service Centres
Ministry: EXTERNAL AFFAIRS
Asked by: Shri Adhikari Deepak Dev, Dr. T Sumathy Alias Thamizhachi Thangapandian, Shri Brijmohan Agrawal, Shri Nilesh Dnyandev Lanke, Shri Sanjay Dina Patil, Shri Sunil Kumar, Thiru D M Kathir Anand, Shri Rajkumar Roat, Shri Aashtikar Patil Nagesh Bapurao, Smt. Supriya Sule, Prof. Varsha Eknath Gaikwad, Shri Mohite Patil Dhairyasheel Rajsinh, Shri Bhaskar Murlidhar Bhagare, Dr. Amol Ramsing Kolhe, Shri Bajrang Manohar Sonwane, Shri Sachithanantham R

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA

## MINISTRY OF EXTERNAL AFFAIRS

## LOK SABHA

UNSTARRED QUESTION NO-834

ANSWERED ON- 26/07/2024

PASSPORT SERVICE CENTRES

## 834. SHRI ADHIKARI DEEPAK DEV

DR. T SUMATHY ALIAS THAMIZHACHI THANGAPANDIAN

SHRI BRIJMOHAN AGRAWAL

SHRI NILESH DNYANDEV LANKE

SHRI SANJAY DINA PATIL

SHRI SUNIL KUMAR

THIRU D M KATHIR ANAND

SHRI RAJKUMAR ROAT

SHRI AASHTIKAR PATIL NAGESH BAPURAO

SMT. SUPRIYA SULE

PROF. VARSHA EKNATH GAIKWAD

SHRI MOHITE PATIL DHAIRYASHEEL RAJSINH

SHRI BHASKAR MURLIDHAR BHAGARE

DR. AMOL RAMSING KOLHE

SHRI BAJRANG MANOHAR SONWANE

SHRI SACHITHANANTHAM R

Will the Minister of EXTERNAL AFFAIRS be pleased to state :(a) the total number of passports issued and number of applications pending in the country as on date along with the corrective measures taken by the Government to clear the pendency, State-wise including Maharashtra, Bihar, Rajasthan, West Bengal, Chhattisgarh and Tamil Nadu; (b) the number of Passport Service Centres presently functioning in the country, State-wise including the said States; (c) whether the Government has any proposal to setting up new Passport Service Kendran/Centres in the country and if so, the details thereof, Statewise including the said States; (d) whether the Government has any plan for the issue of Passports to all students enrolled for higher education in Colleges/ Universities across the country and if so, the details thereof and if not, the reasons therefor; (e) whether the Government has taken any steps for the rollout of epassports with embedded chips, futuristic technology and advanced security features to citizens and if so, the details thereof; and (f) whether the Government has taken note of problems being faced by Indian passports holders travelling abroad due to scanning issues of their passports and if so, the details thereof along with the steps taken/being taken by the Government in this regard?

## ANSWER

## THE MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF EXTERNAL AFFAIRS (SHRI KIRTI VARDHAN SINGH)

(a) Total   number   of   passports   issued   in   India   is   1,11,15,399(2019), 54,12,614(2020),   73,63,491(2021),   1,17,41,203   (2022),   1,37,54,422   (2023) and 66,05,906 (Jan-June 2024) and number of applications at various stages of processing in the country including Maharashtra, Bihar, Rajasthan, West Bengal, Chhattisgarh and Tamil Nadu as on date is 86,430.  Ministry has been working continuously to improve the system across the country by having special drives by RPOs, mapping and detailment of Cross Granting Officers (CGOs) across the country. Further, depending upon the exigency of   work,   officials/   officers   of   Central   Passport   Organisation   (CPO)   are posted at different Passport Offices on Temporary Duty to augment the working strength in the respective passport offices.

(b) There are currently 533 Passport Service Centres functioning in the country including 93 Passport Seva Kendras (PSKs) and 440 Post Office Passport   Seva   Kendras   (POPSKs),   under   37   Regional   Passport   Offices (RPOs).

(c) Ministry in association with Department of Posts (DoP) had decided in January 2017 to open Seva Kendras at the Head Post Offices (HPO)/ Post Offices   (PO)   in   the   country   called   Post   Office   Passport   Seva   Kendra (POPSK) in each Lok Sabha Constituency (LSC) where there is no PSK or a

POPSK.  Opening  of   new   passport   offices/   Centres   depends   on   several factors including the volume of applications. (d)  There   is   a   provision   for   faster   issue   of   passports   under   "Tatkaal" scheme, through which students are also issued with passports speedily. All  students who apply for passport with proper documentation will be issued passports as per the rules. (e)   The  Government has taken steps for the rollout of  ePassports with embedded chip. At present, the testing of  the project of  e-Passports is under way at Regional Passport Offices in Bhubaneswar and Nagpur. Post successful pilot launch and requisite certifications, subsequently, it will be rolled out at remaining Regional Passport Offices across India in a phased manner. The ePassport is a combined paper and electronic passport, with an   embedded   Radio   Frequency   Identification   (RFID)   chip   and   antenna embedded as an inlay. The passport's critical information will be printed on its data page as well as stored in the chip, thus it makes it harder to forge. The characteristics of the document and the chip are in accordance to International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) document 9303. (f)  The Government has not come across any case of problems faced by Indian passengers travelling abroad with regard to scanning issues of their passport.

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|                                         |                                         |                                            |                                         | Annexure I                              |
|-----------------------------------------|-----------------------------------------|--------------------------------------------|-----------------------------------------|-----------------------------------------|
| No PSK/POPSKs- List of all LSCs-42 LSCs | No PSK/POPSKs- List of all LSCs-42 LSCs | No PSK/POPSKs- List of all LSCs-42 LSCs    | No PSK/POPSKs- List of all LSCs-42 LSCs | No PSK/POPSKs- List of all LSCs-42 LSCs |
| SL No.                                  | State                                   | POPSK Locations                            | Passport Office                         | Lok Sabha Constituency                  |
| 1.                                      | Andhra Pradesh (1)                      | Araku (Alternate location - Parvathipuram) | Vishakhapatnam                          | Araku                                   |
| 2.                                      | Bihar (03)                              | Rajnagar                                   | Patna                                   | Jhanjharpur                             |
| 3.                                      | Bihar (03)                              | Ram Nagar                                  | Patna                                   | Valmiki Nagar                           |
| 4.                                      | Bihar (03)                              | Bakhera                                    | Patna                                   | Vaishali                                |
| 5. 6.                                   | Chattisgarh (3)                         | Jagdalpur Kanker                           | Raipur Raipur                           | Bastar Kanker                           |
| 8.                                      | Kerala (2)                              | Thavanur                                   |                                         | Ponnani                                 |
|                                         |                                         |                                            | Kozhikode                               |                                         |
| 9.                                      |                                         | Kalpetta                                   | Kozhikode                               | Wayanad                                 |
| 10.                                     | Madhya Pradesh (6)                      | Sidhi                                      | Bhopal                                  | Sidhi                                   |
| 11.                                     | Madhya Pradesh (6)                      | Bhind                                      | Bhopal                                  | Bhind                                   |
| 12.                                     | Madhya Pradesh (6)                      | Khargone                                   | Bhopal                                  | Khargone (Barwani)                      |
| 13.                                     | Madhya Pradesh (6)                      | Mandla (Dindori)                           | Bhopal                                  | Mandla (Dindori)                        |
| 14.                                     | Madhya Pradesh (6)                      | Morena                                     | Bhopal                                  | Morena                                  |
| 15.                                     | Madhya Pradesh (6)                      | Rajgarh                                    | Bhopal                                  | Rajgarh                                 |
| 16.                                     | Maharastra (1)                          | Dindori                                    | Mumbai                                  | Dindori                                 |
| 17.                                     | Punjab (1)                              | Khadoor Sahib                              | Amritsar                                | Tarn Taran                              |
| 18.                                     | Tamil Nadu (2)                          | Tiruppur                                   | Coimbatore                              | Tiruppur                                |
| 19.                                     | Tamil Nadu (2)                          | Pollachi                                   | Coimbatore                              | Pollachi                                |
| 20.                                     | Tamil Nadu (2)                          | Manjhanpur                                 | Lucknow                                 | Kaushambi                               |
| 21.                                     | Tamil Nadu (2)                          | Barabanki                                  | Lucknow                                 | Barabanki                               |
| 22.                                     | Tamil Nadu (2)                          | Basti                                      | Lucknow                                 | Basti                                   |

| 23.               | (23) Kaiserganj Kannauj Lalganj   | Churk Lucknow            | Robertsganj      |
|-------------------|-----------------------------------|--------------------------|------------------|
| 24.               | (23) Kaiserganj Kannauj Lalganj   | Kushi Nagar Lucknow      | Kushi Nagar      |
| 25.               | (23) Kaiserganj Kannauj Lalganj   | Akbarpur Lucknow         | Akbarpur         |
| 26.               | (23) Kaiserganj Kannauj Lalganj   | Aonla Bareilly           | Aonla            |
| 27.               | (23) Kaiserganj Kannauj Lalganj   | Bansgoan Lucknow         | Bansgoan         |
| 28.               | (23) Kaiserganj Kannauj Lalganj   | Chandauli Lucknow        | Chandauli        |
| 29.               | (23) Kaiserganj Kannauj Lalganj   | Dhauraha Lucknow         | Dhauraha         |
| 30.               | (23) Kaiserganj Kannauj Lalganj   | Etah Bareilly            | Etah             |
| 31.               | (23) Kaiserganj Kannauj Lalganj   | Firozabad Bareilly       | Firozabad        |
| 32.               | (23) Kaiserganj Kannauj Lalganj   | Kairana Ghaziabad        | Kairana          |
| 33.               | (23) Kaiserganj Kannauj Lalganj   | Lucknow                  | Kaiserganj       |
| Uttar Pradesh 34. | (23) Kaiserganj Kannauj Lalganj   | Lucknow                  | Kannauj          |
| 35.               | (23) Kaiserganj Kannauj Lalganj   | Lucknow                  | Lalganj          |
| 36.               | (23) Kaiserganj Kannauj Lalganj   | Machhlishahr Lucknow     | Machhlishahr     |
| 37.               | (23) Kaiserganj Kannauj Lalganj   | Mainpuri Bareilly        | Mainpuri         |
| 38.               | (23) Kaiserganj Kannauj Lalganj   | Malihabad Lucknow        | Mohanlalganj     |
| 39.               | (23) Kaiserganj Kannauj Lalganj   | Phulpur Lucknow          | Phulpur          |
| 40.               | (23) Kaiserganj Kannauj Lalganj   | Salempur Lucknow         | Salempur         |
| 41.               | (23) Kaiserganj Kannauj Lalganj   | Sambhal Bareilly         | Sambhal          |
| 42.               | (23) Kaiserganj Kannauj Lalganj   | Sant Kabir Nagar Lucknow | Sant Kabir Nagar |

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