From next month, people in select cities will be able to apply for passports in post offices under an ambitious initiative of the External Affairs Ministry. This is aimed at making the passport issuance process hassle-free and ease burden on passport offices across the country which are grappling with large volume of applications. In the first phase of the project, passport services will be made available in select post offices in Rajasthan, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Jharkhand and some other states. Currently, 89 Passport Seva Kendras (PSK) are operating across the country as extended arms of the 38 Passport Offices. In Rajasthan, passport services will be available in Kota, Jaisalmer, Bikaner, Jhunjhunu and Jhalawar while in West Bengal it will be in Asansol, Nadia, North Dinajpur North Kolkata.

Source: Indian Express February 19, 2017 03:40 UTC