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Feature
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Passport
Seva/
I. Day 2014
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Muktesh k. Pardeshi *
The Passport Seva Project is one of the largest Mission Mode projects of the Government of India under the National e-Governance Plan (NeGP). The project is being
successfully executed by
the
Ministry of External Affairs
in Public-Private-Partnership with Tata
Consultancy
Services as
the Service
Partner.
The existing infrastructure, systems and processes were
found inadequate to
meet
the growing demand
for Passport and related services.
In 2013, the Government rendered about 85.17 lakh passport services in a year.
This is an all time high and amounts to over threefold increase since 2000. At
this rate, the Government is likely to be reaching a milestone of issuing one
crore passports a year during the year 2014-15. In the first six months of this
year, 42 lakh applications have been received by Passport offices in India.
This does not include overseas applications. As on 30th June
2014, some 5.4 crore Indian citizens held valid passports. India today accounts
for about 14% of global issuance and is placed third behind China and the
United States
The Passport Seva
Project was conceptualized and launched to augment and improve the delivery of passport related services to Indian citizens. The all India
rollout across 23
states and 63 cities was completed
swiftly by June 2012.
This IT-driven Project is run with over 2,500 persons deployed from the private
Service Provider and 2,500 officials from the MEA. The Project runs on the
Build-Own-Operate-Transfer model wherein the initial investments are by the
private partner. There is minimal investment from the Government.
Vision
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“To deliver all Passport-related services to the citizens in a timely, transparent, more accessible, reliable
manner & in a comfortable environment through streamlined processes and committed, trained & motivated
workforce”.
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Passport Seva Network
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The Passport Seva Project has a
country-wide networked environment integrating 77 state-of-the-art Passport
Seva Kendras (PSKs), 39 Passport Issuing
Authorities and external stakeholders involved in the
process viz. Police, India Security Press and India Post. The
Passport data is also accessible at Immigration Check Posts and at the 183
Indian Missions & Posts abroad.
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Benefits to Citizens
The project has transformed the way passport and related
services are delivered to Indian citizens:
1.
Simplified and Transparent Processes
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The complete process of application for Passport and
related services has been re-engineered and automated. The application is
filled online through the user friendly Passport
Seva Portal http://passportindia.gov.in, fees submitted
and appointment scheduled for
the selected Passport Seva Kendra. On the
appointed day and time, the applicant needs to visit the
PSK where the application is
processed, supporting
documents scanned into the system, photograph and
biometrics taken. The application and documents are verified by
Passport Office staff and a decision to grant the service taken in front of
the applicant. An acknowledgement receipt is handed over to the
applicant wherein the applicant is informed of the decision in
writing.
An Electronic Queue Management System (EQMS) ensures
first-in-first-out based smooth flow of citizens across the various stages of
processing at the PSK. The EQMS can cater to multiple services and multiple
categories of citizens – for eg. Senior Citizens can be assigned to a
separate queue.
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2. Improved Amenities
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The
Passport Seva Kendras provide applicants with
a comfortable and air conditioned environment. Amenities in every PSK
include photocopying machines, public phone booth, baby care room, newspapers
& journals, ATM, internet kiosks and food & beverage
kiosks. The PSK also has the provision of wheel
chair, washroom for physically challenged and ramp
& lift for easy access to the facility.
Helpful staff guide the citizens through the process at the PSK.
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3.
Multiple Channels of Communication
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The Passport Seva Project provides
the citizen with multiple channels for effective communication and connects with
the Passport Issuance system.
a.
Passport Seva
Portal: The online portal is a Single Window
Online Interface which provides extended reach, ease of
use, greater transparency with availability of up-to-date information
on passport services and real time status tracking.
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b.
Call Centre & Helpdesk: The National Call
Centre answers queries round-the- clock in 17
languages. An email based helpdesk is also available to answer citizen queries.
c.
‘mPassport Seva’ Mobile Application:
The mPassport Seva mobile app enables citizens to access Passport related
information on their Smart Phones. mPassport Seva is available on all major platforms
namely Android, iOS, Windows and Blackberry.
d. Value Added SMS
Service for Status
Tracking: The Passport Seva
system sends SMS updates to applicants at the time of passport dispatch along with
the Speed Post tracking number. A value- added premium ‘SMS Service’
has also been implemented for passport applicants to provide citizen-centric
mobility solution, comprising incoming and
Outgoing mobile messages (SMS)
at a nominal charge.
4. Extended Coverage & Reach
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The Passport Seva Project has
significantly increased the reach of Passport Services to Citizens. Various improvement
initiatives have been taken to further extend the coverage of the services.
a. Passport Seva Melas: Regular
Passport Seva Melas are conducted on weekends at the PSKs to provide
services to citizens, thus, helping cater to an unexpected temporary
surge in demand
b. Passport Seva Camps:
Passport Seva Camps are occasionally set up to provide
passport services in remote locations where there are no PSKs.
c. Common Service Centres: The
Ministry has collaborated with
Citizen e-Governance Services to extend the reach of Passport
services to rural areas. Citizens can approach a Common Service Centre (CSC) for
online filing of application, payment of fees and scheduling of appointment at
a nominal charge. Similar services are also available at select Post Offices.
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5. Interoperability with Third Parties - Faster Service Delivery
Passport
Seva system has
electronic data exchange with
external entities involved in the
process. A digital interface
has been provided to
integrate with the key stakeholders – namely,
the Police
(for verification
of an applicant’s personal particulars), India
Security Press (for
passport booklet supply) and India Post (for passport delivery). This seamless exchange of data
ensures faster and smoother service delivery to Citizens.
5. Uninterrupted
Services to Citizens
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A
Passport Seva Network Operations Center (NOC) and Security Operations Center
(SOC) has been set up for
24X7 monitoring of the Passport Seva
infrastructure and environment. The NOC is equipped with an intelligent
monitoring framework for proactive identification of potential
infrastructure, system and security issues. This
ensures
committed
services
to
citizens. State-of-the-art security technologies are deployed in the
SOC for enterprise wide security monitoring of physical
locations, systems, network and more importantly cyber space.
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Awards
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The Passport Seva Project has won various awards and accolades for its endeavour to
provide best-in-class passport services to Indian citizens. Some of these include:
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Computer Society of India
Nihilent Award of Excellence, 2012
- eIndia Award of Excellence, 2013
- Promising Innovation Award at Tata Innovista Regional Rounds, 2013
- SecureIT Award for Information Technology, 2014
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Conclusion
The
Passport Seva Project has
been
successful in transforming the way Passport services are delivered to Indian citizens. Close to 18 million applications have been processed in the new system to date. On an average, 45,000 citizens are serviced daily and citizen satisfaction
at
the PSK stands at 99.5%. The 24X7 Call Center handles close to
25,000 calls daily. The online portal provides up-to-date information/
real time status and receives over 20 million hits/day. The mobile app mPassport Seva which is also available for the
convenience of citizens receives over 15,000 hits per day.
Through re-engineered, standardized,
integrated and automated processes,
implemented using state-of-art technology, services are being delivered in a transparent manner, with extended reach,
better accessibility, accountability and efficiency.
*Sh. Muktesh k. Pardeshi
is Joint Secretary and Chief Passport officer in the Ministry of External
Affairs
(PIB Features)
Email: - featuresunit@gmail.com
himalaya@nic.in
SS-
212/SF- 212/11.08.2014
YSK/
Uma