Tired of the long wait for a passport? It's about to get shorter.
The ministry of external affairs has drafted an ambitious plan to outsource a major portion of the regional passport offices' work so that once a police verification report is received, a passport is issued within three days.
Under the Rs 8-crore 'Passport Service Project', the MEA will have 68 private centres to help RPOs.
"The Union cabinet cleared the proposal for outsourcing passports on September 6. It will operate exactly on the lines of the US visa system. Of the 68 centres, eight will be set up in New Delhi and four in Mumbai," a senior official told TOI.
While existing RPOs would function as usual, the new centres would be entrusted with the entire work, except signing the passport, while the delivery of passports would also be completely outsourced.
Currently, passports are delivered through the postal network or collected in person at the RPO. It is also proposed to link major police stations with RPOs so that police verification reports are delivered quickly. For setting up the 68 centres, tenders will be invited to ensure that the agency provides quality service.
"Our attempt is to cut down the existing waiting period of 45 days to 15-20 days. One-and-a-half months is a very long period, particularly when we claim that we have adequate technical know-how in all the sectors," the official said.
The official said the proposal would take final shape once the minutes of the cabinet meeting were approved. "We expect the final guidelines within a fortnight, and the new project is expected to start functioning within a year or so," he said.
As per the new proposal, if all formalities are completed, new as well as duplicate passports will be issued within three days, while change in name and address will be done on the same day.
Of course, one will have to pay a stiff fee for quick delivery of passports. "Fees will be decided later by the MEA," the official said.
The ministry of external affairs has drafted an ambitious plan to outsource a major portion of the regional passport offices' work so that once a police verification report is received, a passport is issued within three days.
Under the Rs 8-crore 'Passport Service Project', the MEA will have 68 private centres to help RPOs.
"The Union cabinet cleared the proposal for outsourcing passports on September 6. It will operate exactly on the lines of the US visa system. Of the 68 centres, eight will be set up in New Delhi and four in Mumbai," a senior official told TOI.
While existing RPOs would function as usual, the new centres would be entrusted with the entire work, except signing the passport, while the delivery of passports would also be completely outsourced.
Currently, passports are delivered through the postal network or collected in person at the RPO. It is also proposed to link major police stations with RPOs so that police verification reports are delivered quickly. For setting up the 68 centres, tenders will be invited to ensure that the agency provides quality service.
"Our attempt is to cut down the existing waiting period of 45 days to 15-20 days. One-and-a-half months is a very long period, particularly when we claim that we have adequate technical know-how in all the sectors," the official said.
The official said the proposal would take final shape once the minutes of the cabinet meeting were approved. "We expect the final guidelines within a fortnight, and the new project is expected to start functioning within a year or so," he said.
As per the new proposal, if all formalities are completed, new as well as duplicate passports will be issued within three days, while change in name and address will be done on the same day.
Of course, one will have to pay a stiff fee for quick delivery of passports. "Fees will be decided later by the MEA," the official said.
