Lok Sabha Question No. 3125 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2016-03-16
Subject: Expediting Passport Issuance
Ministry: EXTERNAL AFFAIRS
Asked by: SANKAR PRASAD DATTA, VINOD KUMAR SONKAR, ASHOK MAHADEORAO NETE, RAMACHANDRAN MULLAPPALLY, RANJANBEN BHATT, JANARDAN SINGH SIGRIWAL, B.V. NAYAK

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF EXTERNAL AFFAIRS

LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO.3125 TO BE ANSWERED ON 16.03.2016

## EXPEDITING PASSPORT ISSUANCE

3125. SHRI SANKAR PRASAD DATTA: SHRI VINOD KUMAR SONKAR: SHRI ASHOK MAHADEORAO NETE: SHRI MULLAPPALLY RAMACHANDRAN: SHRIMATI RANJANBEN BHATT: SHRI JANARDAN SINGH SIGRIWAL: SHRI B.V. NAIK:

Will the Minister of EXTERNAL AFFAIRS be pleased to state:

- (a) whether the Government has announced two major changes recently  that  will  expedite  the  process  for  first  time  passport applicants  as  well  as  make  it  more  convenient  to  secure  an appointment  at  local  Passport  Seva  Kendras  (PSKs)  and  if  so,  the details thereof;
- (b) whether extra charges are likely to be levied for the service that has been introduced to cut the waiting time for passport and if so, the details thereof;
- (c) whether  the  delay  and  interruption  in the supply  of  passport booklets has created huge backlog in the issuance of passports and if so, the details thereof;
- (d) whether  the  Government  proposes  to  open  more  PSKs  at  each district headquarter of the country and if so, the details thereof; and
- (e) the  number of passports issued during the last three years, Statewise?

ANSWER THE MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF EXTERNAL AFFAIRS [GEN. (DR) V. K. SINGH (RETD)]

- (a) Yes.  The Ministry has announced two major changes recently that will  expedite  the  process  for  first  time  passport  applicants  as  well  as make it more convenient to secure an appointment at local Passport Seva Kendras.    As  per  the  announcement,  the  first  time  passport  applicants who furnish Aadhaar Card, Electoral Photo Identity Card (EPIC), PAN Card and an affidavit in the format of Annexure-I will get faster service without payment of any additional fees, subject to successful online validation of Aadhaar  and  EPIC  and  PAN  Cards,  if  required  from  the  respective databases. The passports under this liberal dispensation will be issued on Post-Police Verification basis.

The second measure announced pertains to securing online Appointments  for  submission  of  passport  applications  at  Passport  Seva Kendras. The new  provision is allowing applicants to choose any appointment date from the earliest five available dates (working days) for scheduling/rescheduling  an  appointment  for  Passport  related  services. Earlier, the System used to offer only one available date to the applicants for seeking appointment for Passport related services.

- (b) No  extra  charge  is  levied  for  the  services  being  rendered  due  to above two announcements.
- (c) There  was  a  temporary  shortage  of  passport  booklets  which created  some  backlog  in  issuance  of  passports  in  December  2013  February 2014 and April 2014-mid June 2014 due to stoppage of production  of  booklets  by  ISP  Nashik  due  to  shortage  of  raw  material imported from abroad.  However, there is no backlog in the issuance of passports due to supply of passport booklets at the present.
- (d) In view of increased demand  for passports, the Ministry is considering  to  further  increase  the  number  of  PSKs  and  endeavoring  to open  more  PSKs  in  thickly  populated  district  headquarters.  With  the implementation of Passport Seva Project (PSP), the Ministry had established  77  Passport  Seva  Kendras  (PSKs)  in  various  States/Union Territories  initially.    Subsequently,  to  provide  more  access  points  for passport services, the Ministry decided to set up 19 additional Passport Seva  Laghu  Kendras  (PSLKs).  Out  of  these  19  PSLKs,  10  have  already started  functioning  in  various  States  and  Union  Territories  till  February 2016.  The Ministry has also initiated the process to engage an agency to conduct  a  comprehensive  study  for  Passport  Seva  Project  Version  2.0 (PSP V2.0) including exploring the possibility of opening more PSKs across the country.  It may be stated that the recommendations for the PSP V2.0 will be considered after expiry of the current PSP Contract in June 2018

## (e) The  number of passports issued during the last three years, Statewise is given below:

| State                  | 2013      | 2014      | 2015       |
|------------------------|-----------|-----------|------------|
| Andaman & Nicobar      | 3008      | 3560      | 4200       |
| Andhra Pradesh         | 7,75,182  | 6,00,592  | 4,52,415   |
| Arunachal Pradesh      | 767       | 922       | 1,676      |
| Assam                  | 39,977    | 50,028    | 66,702     |
| Bihar                  | 1,69,454  | 2,56,492  | 3,65,631   |
| Chandigarh             | 22,914    | 26,729    | 29,425     |
| Chhattisgarh           | 30,459    | 34,539    | 38,867     |
| Dadra and Nagar Haveli | 1,227     | 1,254     | 1,777      |
| Daman and Diu          | 5,091     | 6,333     | 8,400      |
| Delhi                  | 3,14,955  | 3,42,310  | 3,84,119   |
| Goa                    | 48,373    | 47,185    | 51,586     |
| Gujarat                | 4,61,409  | 5,48,591  | 7,46,856   |
| Haryana                | 1,79,382  | 2,13,009  | 2,53,480   |
| Himachal Pradesh       | 28,298    | 32,699    | 47,006     |
| Jammu and Kashmir      | 86,660    | 86,095    | 1,13,184   |
| Jharkhand              | 60,453    | 66,730    | 84,381     |
| Karnataka              | 4,37,129  | 5,24,733  | 6,36,770   |
| Kerala                 | 9,47,532  | 10,60,148 | 11,44,138  |
| Lakshadweep            | 1,503     | 1,488     | 1,706      |
| Madhya Pradesh         | 1,02,745  | 1,43,309  | 1,64,625   |
| Maharashtra            | 8,04,411  | 9,21,635  | 11,87,050  |
| Manipur                | 4,248     | 4,915     | 5,451      |
| Meghalaya              | 2,507     | 3,184     | 5,152      |
| Mizoram                | 1,958     | 2,451     | 2,880      |
| Nagaland               | 2,366     | 2,695     | 2,937      |
| Odisha                 | 81,412    | 94,477    | 1,08,131   |
| Puducherry             | 20,113    | 20,699    | 21,658     |
| Punjab                 | 4,56,718  | 5,80,838  | 7,14,989   |
| Rajasthan              | 2,02,340  | 2,50,747  | 3,11,050   |
| Sikkim                 | 1,662     | 4,468     | 5,354      |
| Tamil Nadu             | 8,16,190  | 9,35,894  | 10,08,132  |
| Telangana              | 41        | 2,81,451  | 5,38,343   |
| Tripura                | 7,083     | 14,737    | 22,251     |
| Uttar Pradesh          | 6,08,670  | 8,46,594  | 13,36,917  |
| Uttarakhand            | 47,996    | 72,202    | 85,385     |
| West Bengal            | 3,28,485  | 3,88,837  | 5,85,752   |
| PAN India              | 71,02,718 | 84,72,570 | 1,05,38376 |

Excluding  Passport  issued  overseas  and  Diplomatic/Official  passports issued directly by the Ministry.

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