The National Institute of Smart Government (NISG) was appointed as the
Consultant to study the existing passport issuance system and suggest measures
to improve the passport issuance system.Â
At the conclusion of their study, NISG recommended implementation of
Passport Seva Project to meet the growing demand and to improve the efficiency
of the system. NISG completed the study of existing Passport Issuance System
and submitted a Detailed Project Report (DPR) in February, 2007. Subsequently,
they framed the Request for Proposal (RFP) for implementation of Passport Seva
Project which was released in October, 2007.
NISG recommended implementing the
Passport Seva Project (PSP) in Public Private Partnership mode to overhaul the
entire passport issuance system in the country.Â
The basic design of PSP involves the outsourcing of all non-sensitive
front end functions to a private Service Provider, with Government
functionaries retaining all critical sovereign roles and responsibilities. The Project envisages the setting up of 77
Passport Seva Kendras (PSKs) across the country, dedicated Data Centres and
establishment of Call Centre operating 24x7 in 17 languages, and a centralized
nationwide computerized system for issuance of passports.Â
The Pilot Project was made operational
at 07 Passport Seva Kendras set up in Bengaluru (02),
Hubli (01), Mangalore (01), Ambala
(01), Chandigarh (01) and Ludhiana (01). The Pilot Project has been functioning
since its launch in May 2010. On January 11, 2011, the 3rd Party
Audit Agency – Standardization, Testing and Quality Certification (STQC) has
verified the Pilot Project for its compliance with reference to the guidelines
in the Request for Proposal. The Government has finalized 77 locations to set
up Passport Seva Kendras under the Passport Seva Project.
|
Passport Office
|
PSKs at located within the city
of Passport Office
|
PSKs located in other Districts within the
jurisdiction of Passport Offices
|
Total No. of PSKs
|
|
Delhi
|
Delhi 1, Delhi 2
|
Gurgaon
|
3
|
|
Mumbai
|
Mumbai 1, Mumbai 2, Mumbai 3
|
None
|
3
|
|
Hyderabad
|
Hyd 1, Hyd 2, Hyd 3
|
Vijayawada, Nizambad, Tirupathi
|
6
|
|
Chennai
|
Chennai 1, Chennai 2, Chennai 3
|
None
|
3
|
|
Bangalore
|
B’lore 1, B’lore 2
|
Hubli-Dharwad, Mangalore
|
4
|
|
Ahmedabad
|
Ahmedabad 1, Ahmedabad 2
|
Baroda, Rajkot
|
4
|
|
Cochin
|
Cochin
|
Thrissur, Alappuzha, Ernakulam (Rural), Kottayam
|
5
|
|
Jalandhar
|
Jalandhar 1, Jalandhar 2
|
Hoshiarpur
|
3
|
|
Trivandrum
|
Trivandrum
|
Kollam, Trivandrum
(Rural)
|
3
|
|
Chandigarh
|
Chandigarh
|
Ludhiana, Ambala
|
3
|
|
Trichy
|
Trichy 1, Trichy 2
|
Thanajavur
|
3
|
|
Kolkata
|
Kolkata
|
Bahrampur
|
2
|
|
Lucknow
|
Lucknow
|
Varanasi, Kanpur, Gorakhpur
|
4
|
|
Jaipur
|
Jaipur
|
Jodhpur, Sikar
|
3
|
|
Kozhikode
|
Kozhikode 1, Kozhikode 2
|
Kannur 1, Kannur 2
|
4
|
|
Thane
|
Thane
|
Nasik
|
2
|
|
Madurai
|
Madurai
|
Tirunelveli City
|
2
|
|
Pune
|
Pune
|
None
|
1
|
|
Patna
|
Patna
|
None
|
1
|
|
Visakhapatnam
|
Visakhapatnam
|
None
|
1
|
|
Surat
|
Surat
|
None
|
1
|
|
Bhopal
|
Bhopal
|
None
|
1
|
|
Ghaziabad
|
Ghaziabad
|
None
|
1
|
|
Bareilly
|
Bareilly
|
None
|
1
|
|
Malappuram
|
Malappuram
|
None
|
1
|
|
Nagpur
|
Nagpur
|
None
|
1
|
|
Amritsar
|
Amritsar
|
None
|
1
|
|
Coimbatore
|
Coimbatore
|
None
|
1
|
|
Total
|
|
|
68
|
|
PSKs co-located with Passport
Offices
|
|
Bhubaneswar
|
Bhubaneswar
|
None
|
1
|
|
Ranchi
|
Ranchi
|
None
|
1
|
|
Guwahati
|
Guwahati
|
None
|
1
|
|
Panaji
|
Panaji
|
None
|
1
|
|
Jammu
|
Jammu
|
None
|
1
|
|
Srinagar
|
Srinagar
|
None
|
1
|
|
Shimla
|
Shimla
|
None
|
1
|
|
Raipur
|
Raipur
|
None
|
1
|
|
Dehradun
|
Dehradun
|
None
|
1
|
|
Total
|
|
|
9
|
|
Total offices
|
77
|
NISG recommended the location of the Passport Seva Kendras on the basis
of a study conducted by them based on the number of passport applications
received from various districts under each Passport Office.
The
Minister of State in the Ministry Of External Affairs Shri E. Ahamed gave this
information in reply to a question in the Rajya Sabha today.
YSK/PM