The year 2012 saw a record 7.2 lakh passports issued in Tamil Nadu. This was the highest number achieved so far in the State, said Muktesh Kumar Pardeshi, Joint Secretary (Passport Seva Project) and Chief Passport Officer.
“The citizen satisfaction index in Tamil Nadu has been consistently over 99.55 per cent,” he told newspersons. Out of the total 77 Passport Seva Kendras in India, eight are in Tamil Nadu, he said.
This was possible through “efficient” operation of kendras in the state. Staff of Tata Consultancy Services is responsible for initial data entry of applications in the kendras. The verification of documents for completeness and genuineness, granting of passport, printing and dispatch is performed by government staff.
According to Pardeshi, the kendras in Tamil Nadu were opened in a phased manner in June, August and September 2011. There are centres in Madurai, Tirunelveli, Trichy, Thanjavur, Coimbatore and three in Chennai (Aminjikari, Saligramam and Tambaram). These kendras together have successfully processed close to 9.78 lakh applications till December 31.
The three Regional Passport Offices (RPO) in Tamil Nadu – Coimbatore, Madurai and Trichy – cater to six, nine and eight districts respectively. The Chennai RPO is responsible for issuance of passports within its jurisdictional area and managing other miscellaneous services for the State, he said.
There are over 1,450 citizen service counters across the eight kendras, he said.