Government announces 149 new Post Office Passport Seva Kendras

No Indian will have to travel more than 50 km to get their passport, as the government is planning to set up a comprehensive network of Passport Seva Kendras (PSK) across the nation, with major post offices to also provide the service, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj said on Saturday.

Sushma Swaraj announcing the opening of 149 new Post Office Passport Seva Kendras (POPSKs), said these will be set up in the second phase. (Photo: PTI)

No Indian will have to travel more than 50 km to get their passport, as the government is planning to set up a comprehensive network of Passport Seva Kendras (PSK) across the nation, with major post offices to also provide the service, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj said on Saturday. The Minister, announcing the opening of 149 new Post Office Passport Seva Kendras (POPSKs), said these will be set up in the second phase. In the first phase 86 POPSKs were to be set up — 52 of which are now functional. Apart from centres in the post offices, the government had earlier also announced 16 full-fledged PSKs taking the total number of new centres to the “auspicious” 251, she said.

“When I started at the Ministry, we had only 77 PSKs to cater to the whole nation. I realised that distance was the biggest hurdle for people to get their passports,” she said. Even after pushing through 16 more PSKs apart from 86 of them in post offices, Sushma Swaraj said she felt it was not enough. “We planned to set a target and decided that no individual should have to travel more than 50 km for a passport.” “With that criterion for selection, today I announce 149 new POPSKs,” she said.

S.No..	State/UT	Place	Total
1	Andhra Pradesh	Anantpur, Chitoor, Guntur, Krishna, Ongole, Rajamundry, Srikakulam	7
2	Arunachal Pradesh	Changlang, Tirap	2
3	Assam	Dhubri, Dibrugarh, Goalpara, Karbi Anglong, Kokrajhar, Mangaldoi, North Lakhim Pur, Sonitpur, Tinsukia	9
4	Bihar	Begusarai, Buxar, East Champaran, Gaya, Madhubani, Samastipur, Supaul, Munger, Navada	9
5	Chattisgarh	Durg, Rajnandgaon	2
6	Gujarat	Anand, Bharuch, Bhavnagar, Jamnagar, Junagarh, Kheda, Navsari, Valsad	8
7	Haryana	Bhiwani, Kaithal, Narnaul, Panipat, Rohtak, Sonipat, Yamunanagar	7
8	Himachal Pradesh	Kangra, Mandi, Una	3
9	J & K	Anantnag, Baramula, Kathua	3
10	Jharkhand	Bokaro, Hazaribagh, Medininagar	3
11	Karnataka	Bellary, Bidar, Raichur, Shivamogga, Tumakuru, Udipi, Vijayapur	7
12	Kerala	Chengannur, Idukki	2
13	Madhya Pradesh	Balaghat, Chhindwara, Dewas, Hoshangabad, Sehore, Sidhi, Ujjain, Betul, Shivni	9
14	Maharashtra	Ahmednagar, Jalna, Latur, Pandharpur, Sangli, Sindhudurg, Wardha, Navi Mumbai, Dombivali, Panvel, Nanded	11
15	Meghalaya	Baghmara, Tura	2
16	Odisha	Balasore, Berhampur, Bhawanipatna	3
17	Punjab	Moga,Sangrur, Tarn Taran, SBS Nagar (Nawan Shahar), Phagwara	5
18	Puducherry	Karaikal	1
19	Rajasthan	Ajmer, Churu, Dungarpur, Hanumangarh, Karauli-Dhaulpur, Nagaur, Sriganganagar, Alwar, Chittorgarh, Banswara, Pali	11
20	Tamil Nadu	Cuddalore, Dindigul, Namakkal, Perambalur, Pudukkottai, Ramanathapuram, Sivaganga, Tiruppur, Viluppuram, Virudhunagar, Kanyakumari(N)	11
21	Telangana	Adilabad, Medak, Khammam, Siddipet, Nalgonda	5
22	Uttarakhand	Pauri, Roorkee, Rudrapur	3
23	Uttar Pradesh	Aligarh, Amethi, Azamgarh, Bahraich, Ballia, Balrampur, Barabanki, Basti, Gonda, Jaunpur, Kushinagar, Mau, Sitapur, Muradabad, Pratapgarh, Rae Bareli, Rampur, Saharanpur, Unnao	19
24	West Bengal	Bardhman, Barrackpore, Darjeeling, Malda	4
25	Delhi	Krishna Nagar, Lodhi Road, Saket	3
		Total	149

Saturday, 17 June 2017