New Delhi:

Union Minister for Communications Jyotiraditya Scindia on Saturday said a Passport Seva Kendra (PSK) will be opened in each of the country’s 543 parliamentary constituencies.

Scindia made the announcement while inaugurating a Passport Seva Kendra in Madhya Pradesh’s Guna, the parliamentary constituency he represents.

The Union minister also said that six new passport centres will be opened in MP this year.

“Prime Minister Narendra Modi has decided to establish a Passport Seva Kendra in each parliamentary constituency with the aim of expanding services. The Department of Posts, in collaboration with the Ministry of External Affairs, is committed to making this resolution a reality,” he said.

The minister also informed that 6,000 post offices have been opened across the country.

“We should try to revive the tradition of writing letters by hand in the country because it expresses the true feelings of the heart,” he said.

The minister said that several technological changes have taken place in the services of the post offices.

He said that the people of Guna had to go to Bhopal and Gwalior to get their passports made but the Passport Seva Kendra will resolve their problems. 

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The online portal for passport applications will be shut for the next five days for a maintenance exercise, the government has said. No new appointments can be scheduled during this period and appointments booked earlier will be rescheduled.

“Passport Seva portal will be down for technical maintenance from 29th August 2024, Thursday 20:00 hrs IST to 2nd September, Monday 06:00 hrs IST. System will not be available during this period for citizens and for all MEA/RPO/BOI/ISP/DoP/Police Authorities. The already booked appointments for 30th August 2024 will be suitably rescheduled and informed to applicants,” a note on the Passport Seva portal said.

The External Affairs Ministry said this is a routine procedure. “For rescheduling of appointments, we always have contingency plans. The maintenance activity for a public centric service (like Passport Seva Kendras) is always planned in advance so that no inconvenience is meted out to public. So rescheduling an appointment will not be a challenge,” a source from the ministry has said.

The Passport Seva portal is used to book appointments at centres across the country to apply for a new passport or to renew a passport. On the day of appointment, applicants must reach the passport centres and provide their documents for verification. Following this, a police verification takes place and then, the passport reaches the applicant’s address. Applicants can opt for the regular mode, in which the passport reaches the applicant within 30-45 working days, or the Tatkaal mode in which it reaches within days.