To reduce time taken in police verification process, passport officers should make concerted efforts with the State Police Authorities, who are yet to switch to online mode, to encourage them to adopt mPassport Police App, said Minister for External Affairs S Jaishankar.

“The continued expansion of mPassport Police App, launched by the Ministry in 2016, which has been now integrated with 334 police districts and 7142 police stations in 19 States and Union Territories has led to expeditious police verification process and strengthening the passport delivery ecosystem,” the Minister observed, speaking on the occasion of Passport Seva Divas 2021 on Thursday. He added that all police stations should get integrated soon.

A major transformation

Integration of the Passport Seva Programme with DigiLocker earlier this year had brought about a major digital transformation in delivery of passport services, Jaishankar said. “This has enabled citizens to submit various documents for obtaining passport services through DigiLocker in a paperless mode. They are not required to carry the original documents," he said.

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Integration of the system with Aadhaar, currently underway, will further enhance and ease the passport issuance process, he said.

“This process should be expedited for completion at an early date," Jaishankar added.

At present, there is a Passport Kendra in 489 Lok Sabha Constituencies in the country. “We hope to establish a Passport Kendra in the remaining 54, in collaboration with our partners, to further strengthen the outreach of our passport services to our citizens,” the Minister said.

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