Cabinet's nod to e-visa, immigration project

The union cabinet on Thursday approved an over Rs 1,000 crore e-project to streamline and integrate visa, immigration and foreigners registration and tracking process.

The union cabinet on Thursday approved an over Rs 1,000 crore e-project to streamline and integrate visa, immigration and foreigners registration and tracking process.

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The core objective of the Rs 1,011-crore project to be undertaken by the home ministry under the National e-Governance Plan (NeGP) "is to develop and implement a secure and integrated service delivery framework that facilitates legitimate travellers while strengthening security", an official statement said.

The project was approved by the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs at a meeting here chaired by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

It has a global outreach since the scope of the project includes 169 missions, 78 Immigration Check Posts, seven Foreigners Regional Registration Offices, and Foreigners Registration Offices in state and district headquarters across the country.

The project is targeted to be completed by September 2014.

"Of the total project cost, Rs.132 crore is proposed to be spent during April 2010- June 2011 with the remaining amount of Rs.879 crore ear-marked for July 2011-September 2014," the statement said

The National Institute for Smart Government (NSIG) had been tasked with the responsibility for generating a comprehensive e-governance solution for the immigration, visa issuance and foreigners' registration and tracking functions, and to prepare a detailed project report for the same.