India targets 251 passport offices through post offices |
Indian External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj announced the launch of 149 new Post Office Passport Seva Kendra (POPSK). These will be in addition to 86 POPSKs announced by the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) in the first phase, an initiative undertaken jointly by the MEA and the Department of Post (DoP). The NDA government has also opened 16 PSKs, with a priority given to northeastern states. Thus, the NDA government opened altogether 251 PSKs and POPSKs since it came to power in May 2014. Prior to that India had only 77 PSKs in the country. The Minister said the government realised that proximity was the biggest hurdle in applying for passports. The Modi government has a target that no one should have to travel more than 50 kms to get a passport. She said her ministry and the DoP are also mapping 810 Head Post Offices to extend the ambit of the scheme in third phase after the completion of mapping and checking the viability of the post offices.
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