Mysore/Mysuru: On January 25, 2017, Mysuru got its own Passport Seva Kendra and an extended part of the Post Office in Metagalli was designed as Post Office Passport Seva Kendra (POPSK). The POPSK completed five years in January this year and till now, more than one lakh people have availed of services from this Kendra.
The POPSK became a reality as the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) then headed by Sushma Swaraj tied up with the Postal Department to offer passport-related services through a network of Post Offices.
It was the pilot project of MEA with Mysuru being the first to launch the service that was inaugurated by the then Union Minister H.N. Ananthkumar. Mysuru-Kodagu MP Pratap Simha was instrumental in getting the POPSK to Mysuru.
After Mysuru city got its permanent Passport Seva Kendra, an average of 70 to 100 people visited the Kendra every day to get fresh passports, renewals and other related services. Earlier, people had to travel to Bengaluru to apply for fresh passports and other issues.
The POPSK functions like any other Kendra in the country, where the applicant’s biometrics and photographs will be taken, documents verified, and a decision on granting the passport taken. If granted, applicants, who do not require Police verification, receive their passports within 15 days.
The estimated time for Police verification for a new passport is around 25 days and annually, the POPSK gets around 25,000 applications. It is an extended arm of the Passport Office and renders front-end services related to passport issuance. It covers functionalities from token issuance to granting the application for passport issue/re-issue and other services.
Speaking to Star of Mysore, Passport Verification Officer Deepak Kumar said that every day, over 100 applicants visit the Metagalli POPSK.
“The response has been good and apart from Mysuru, we also get visitors from the neighbouring districts. Applications are scrutinised in a hassle-free way and they are asked to set right the discrepancies if any in the applications,” he said.
Vidyashree, a passport applicant said that the POPSK is providing good service for passport applicants of the Old Mysore region. Earlier, they had to go to Bengaluru and if there is a delay, they had to stay in lodges just to complete the process. Moreover, the staff at Metagalli POPSK are courteous, she added.
Application process
It is mandatory for all applicants to be physically present at the POPSK along with the application print receipt and original documents after submitting the application online. As soon as a person applies for a passport online, an SMS is sent to the applicant’s mobile number mentioning the date and time of his scheduled appointment at the POPSK.
On the day of the appointment, the applications will be received at a desk and the officer verifies the same and matches the applicant’s photos with the application and takes the biometric data. Later, the officers will scan the documents and send them to the Regional Passport Office in Bengaluru.
If the applicant’s documents are not in order, the person is asked to rectify the errors and come with the same the next day so that there is no delay. The entire process is online and there are no paper works involved.
After the Regional Passport Office processes the application, the applicant’s jurisdictional Police will get the information about the applicant and they will be asked to verify if any criminal cases have been registered against the applicant.
The Police verification, if required for a specific passport, would be conducted at the address specified in the application form. After the verification is complete, the passport will be delivered by the Post Office to the address specified by the applicant.
Will develop it further
The Post Office Passport Seva Kendra in Mysuru became a reality due to the efforts and directions of former External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and Union Minister H.N. Ananthkumar (both late now). I am happy to learn that more than one lakh people have got their passports in five years. Will strive to develop the POPSK further to include more facilities. —Pratap Simha, Mysuru-Kodagu MP
This post was published on July 15, 2022 6:40 pm