Passport Seva gets cabinet nod

R Jai Krishna New Delhi, Sep14

In a bid to reduce the pending applications with regard to issuance of
passport, the Government of India has decided to outsource the process to
service providers.

With the Union Cabinet approval in place, the government will outsource the
front-end activities of passport issuance in an open-bidding process to a
service providers.

However, at the same time, the government will go ahead with the setting up
of 68 passport facilitation centers and the current passport offices will be
used as passport back-offices.

The applications will be processed by the service provider and will be
dispatched through Indiapost. Accordingly, the government will undertake
upgradation of information technology, with uniform procedures in use in
passport issuance system. Apart from this the government will set-up a central
printing unit and online links will be provided with concerned police
authorities for easier and faster verification.

The cabinet has decided to permit the service providers to levy a fee, which
will be decided through an open bidding process. This service fee will be over
and above the government fee for each service so as to enable the service
provider to recover his costs.

The cabinet note said that a Project Management Unit would be set-up for
implementation of the 'Passport Seva' project, which will be implemented
over a period of 19-months by the ministry of external affairs. The government
intends to establish a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) at an appropriate time for
the management, supervision and monitoring of the project.

According to officials, the 'Passport Seva' project will result in
delivery of passport-related services to the citizens in a timely, transparent,
more accessible and reliable manner and in a comfortable environment through
streamlined processes.