Inaugural Address by External Affairs Minister at the Passport Seva Divas and Passport Officers’ Conference 2013

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 June 24, 2013

Colleagues from the Ministry,
Passport Officers,
Distinguished invitees,
Friends from the Media,

Ladies and Gentlemen

I extend a very warm welcome to all of you. I would have been here in the morning itself but for some more pressing engagements which could not be rescheduled. Nevertheless, I am sure that you would have had some fruitful discussions in the forenoon.

I am extremely pleased to be in your midst to inaugurate the Passport Officers’ Conference 2013. I also feel privileged to declare 24th June as ‘Passport Seva Divas’ to mark the notification of Passports Act, 1967 on this day. As we all know, this Act provides a sound legal framework for rules and regulations governing issuance of passports and other travel documents and it is befitting that we observe this historic day every year as Passport Seva Divas in order to create public awareness about the value of Passport services in the country. On this occasion, I extend my heartfelt greetings to all officials engaged in Passport work at Passport Offices, Passport Seva Kendras and Indian Missions/Posts abroad.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Since the establishment of first five Regional Passport Offices in 1955 and the formation of the Central Passport Organization (CPO) in 1959, passport issuance has traversed a long journey. As I understand, in the 1950’s, we were issuing on an average 30,000 Passports per year. These days, we issue more than 30,000 Passports in a single day! Meeting this ever increasing demand for a travel document has been a major challenge for the Ministry. Over the years, expanding the network of Passport Offices, their computerization, machine-readable passports in place of hand-written ones and decentralization of passport services, are but a few of the landmarks in passport issuance. More recently, the Passport Seva Project, aimed at comprehensive overhaul of passport delivery system, has been successfully implemented across the country with the operationalisation of 77 Passport Seva Kendras (PSKs) acting as extended arms of 37 Passport Offices. The setting up of PSKs is part of the Government’s firm commitment to provide timely delivery of passport services to our fellow citizens. I take this opportunity to re-affirm the citizen-centric role of Passport Offices, by adopting measures which facilitate speedier and courteous service, greater convenience and comfort to the public at large.

I am happy that with joint efforts of the Ministry and the Service Provider – the Tata Consultancy Services, the PSP was rolled-out in a very short time. I would like to express my deep appreciation to all the members of the CPV Division, Central Passport Organization the TCS team for their earnest efforts in speedy implementation of this high impact e-governance Project. That the Computer Society of India adjudged PSP as the most significant e-Governance initiative of the Government undertaken during 2011-12 is an ample recognition of Ministry’s successful efforts in application of ICT for good governance. We would also be working towards obtaining ISO Certification of the Project.

Of particular significance are measures taken by the Ministry in the area of strengthening Public Grievance Redressal, making the Passport Portal more user-friendly, improving physical infrastructure of Passport Offices and incorporation of Letter Screen Image in passport booklets as additional security feature. In addition to the facility of multi-lingual call centre operating in 17 major languages and round the clock and e-mail based helpdesk, the Ministry has introduced mPassport Seva – to offer to smart-phone users, anytime anywhere, a wide variety of services such as passport application status tracking, location of PSKs and general information on various steps involved in obtaining passport.

Under the Passport Seva programme, the Ministry has introduced some innovative methods for improved governance and citizen service delivery. One such measure is a requisite visit in person by an applicant to the nearest Passport Seva Kendra. To give the citizen assured service, we introduced the concept of a visit at a pre-appointed time. This is intended to address overcrowding which used to be a regular feature in old days. However, as we progressed over the last few months, obtaining online appointments in some of the regions in the country became a formidable challenge and a recurring theme of public scrutiny. We are hopeful that with the launch of the scheme of advance payment of passport fees through electronic modes and SBI challans at the time of online filing of application and scheduling of appointment, this challenge would be adequately met. I am extremely happy that this scheme is finally live across most parts of the country and will be fully completed in another 10 days or so. We have started receiving positive feedback from citizens about the utility and efficacy of this scheme.

One of the core component upon which hinges the timely delivery of passport services is the Police Verification system. The delay in Police Verification of passport applications leading to delay in passport issuance has been a major area of concern. As I gather, online interface with District Police Authorities has brought encouraging results in some States. This model must be implemented across India. The Ministry has taken up this matter with the concerned Chief Secretaries of state governments for speeding up verification process. At the level of Passport Officers, I feel there is scope for increased coordination with the local police would greatly help in reducing delay in clearances and improve citizen service delivery.

We are cognizant of the fact that the success of any e-Governance Project depends on what is called ‘digital inclusion’. The Ministry is currently finalizing the modalities on co-opting Common Service Centres for taking passport services closer to rural hinterland. It is a matter of satisfaction that the Ministry has reached an understanding with the help of the Department of Information Technology to integrate over 60,000 Common Service Centres in bringing ‘public services closer home’, the motto of the Government’s National e-Governance Plan.

The Ministry is also looking at expanding further the network of passport service access points in the areas left untouched earlier. The Government is committed to setting up a Passport service outlet in each State and Union Territory. Our focused attention would be on establishing Passport Seva Laghu Kendras in the Northeast over the coming months. We have also requested the National Institute for Smart Government to conduct a feasibility study on the ‘Next Steps’ in Passport Seva Project.

Rapid advances in technology and the increasing rightful demand for transparency have created a challenging environment in which service organizations need to operate and respond more efficiently to the aspirations of citizens. Capacity building, training and development of skills are key factors in attaining mission objectives. To this end, in the coming months, the Ministry would be working on establishing a Research and Training Centre. Such a centre, apart from imparting training to officials and personnel from other stakeholders, will also work on improvement in Passport booklet, keeping in pace with the international norms in the field of travel documents.

As you know, a committed and motivated workforce is pre-requisite for achieving goals of the organization. The Ministry has taken several steps to improve the service conditions of the CPO personnel by re-structuring of the cadre, fast-track promotions and notification of Productivity Linked Incentive Scheme. I trust the CPO personnel would benefit from uniform and well-defined work procedures, state–of-the-art infrastructure and system deployment, skill enhancement through training and the totality of their efforts would lead to higher level of satisfaction for citizens. I am told that as on date, in the new system, more than one crore passport related services have been delivered to citizens. With a view to recognizing your valuable efforts, the Ministry has selected the best Citizen Service Executive, Verification Officer, Granting Officer and Passport Office in the country based on their meritorious performance and output during 2012-13. I congratulate all the awardees and hope that these awards would go a long way in creating benchmarks for excellence in performance and devotion to public duty.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Celebrating anniversaries, commemorations or observance of days such as this are not ritualistic but instead provide opportunity to re-assess our performance and to engage ourselves in constructive interaction to learn transferable lessons for betterment of passport service delivery across the country. The Passport Offices being the public interface of the Ministry, it is essential to ensure that sustained efforts are made at every level to enhance citizen experience.

The deliberations during this Conference, I am confident, would lead to practical and forward looking suggestions for improving overall management and image of the CPO. Today as we celebrate this Passport Seva Divas, let us rededicate ourselves to respond with empathy and more efficiently in a transparent manner to meet increasing expectations of citizens to make passport issuance simpler, speedier and more secure and thus contribute our mite to good governance in the country. I wish you a very happy Passport Seva Divas and wish the Conference all success.

Thank you.

New Delhi
June 24, 2013

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