Jammu gets its first PSK Passport issuance to be fully computerised in state

Jammu gets its first PSK
Passport issuance to be fully computerised in state
Nitesh Sangral
JAMMU, Apr 24: There is good news for the resident of Jammu and Kashmir and surrounding districts, aspiring to apply for a passport or to avail miscellaneous passport services. For providing better and faster services, Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), has opened a Passport Seva Kendra (PSKs) in partnership with tat Consultancy Services (TCS) at the Regional Passport Office (RPO), Gandhi Nagar, Jammu. The PSK which is located in the same building and adjacent to the existing passport office is a swanky facility with various amenities for citizens with the ambiance and quality of service delivery at par with international standards. The operational launch of PSK was announced today by the Chief passport office and Joint Secretary Muktesh Pardeshi at Jammu. As part of the nationwide implement of passport seva project under the National e Governance program (NeGP) of government of India, PSk are being set up keeping in view easier accessibility, convince and to provide services in a comfortable environment using world class infrastructure. The Jammu PSK is conveniently co- located at the RPO office itself which is only a few meters away from the main business district of Gandhi Nagar. The PSK has a been developed in a area of around 4500 sq feet and has 14 service counters. Passport officer Jammu Rajinder Gupta informed that Jammu PSK will be providing services to the citizens of various district falling under the jurisdiction of Jammu passport office namely Jammu, Samba, Kathua, Doda, Kistwar, Rajouri, Poonch, Ramban, Reasi and Udhampur. Conceived by the Ministry of External Affairs, the PSKs function under the passport Seva Project with Tata Consultancy Service provider responsible for setting up and operating the 77 PSks across the country. While all front end and citizens facing activities including processing of applications are done by the service provider (TCS) staff, the sovereign function such as document verification and granting of passports will be done by the RPO staff at the PSK. As per the new system, applicant has to log-on to the websitewww.passportindia.gov.in and create a user id. By using the user id, he or she can apply for passport or related service by uploading the form online. Once the form is uploaded, appointment for PSK can be taken on-line as per the jurisdiction. Applicant should visit the PSK at designated time in person along with the original and photocopy of relevant documents. The photograph will be clicked at the PSK, so they need not carry the physical photographs anymore.