Want a passport? Head to a rail station

In another six months, you will be able to drop your passport application documents at one of three railway stations on your way to work.

In another six months, you will be able to drop your passport application documents at one of three railway stations on your way to work.

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As part of the national Passport Seva Project — that aims to speed up the process of application and issuance of passports — the Ghatkopar, Andheri and Kandivli railway stations have been selected for setting up satellite offices of Mumbai’s Regional Passport Office.

Faster, simpler, easier

1. The national Passport Seva Project aims to ease the process of passport application and issuance.

2. In the next six months, offices will be set up at three suburban railway stations.

3. The application process is also scheduled to become paperless, where applicants can scan and upload their
documents.

“A large population of the city travels by local trains. We will come up with passport application centres near the stations,” said Regional Passport Officer Vinay Choube. He refused to give further details, saying that the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) would issue the official statements.

At present, a pilot project is being conducted in Bangalore, said a source at the Regional Passport Office. “The Regional Passport Office has convinced the MEA to include Mumbai in the first phase and this means within six months the project will be implemented here,” the source said. “This will also ease the pressure on the main office.”

Setting up these satellite offices is part of several steps taken by the passport office to simplify the process of application and issuance.

“We encourage people to apply online and give them the day and time for collecting the passport so they do not have to stand in queue for the whole day. But people do not realise that they need to come just 15 minutes before their scheduled appointment,” an officer from the passport office said.

The project is being implemented by the MEA and Tata Consultancy Services. “There will be a call centre to help solve application problems. All documents can be scanned and submitted online,” he said.