Noida gets its very own passport seva kendra

The decision came after the ministry of external affairs gave the green signal to start a centre in Noida, owing to the huge population of the twin cities in the district.

Now, citizens of Gautam Budh Nagar will not have to go all the way to Ghaziabad to get their passports issued or renewed as Noida got its first passport seva kendra on Wednesday.

This is the tenth Passport Seva Kendra in Uttar Pradesh. (Virendra Singh Gosain/HT Photo)

Dr Mahesh Sharma, Union minister and Member of Parliament, Gautam Budh Nagar, inaugurated the passport centre at the Noida Head Post Office at Sector 19 in the morning.

This is the tenth Passport Seva Kendra in Uttar Pradesh.

The decision came after the ministry of external affairs gave the green signal to start a centre in Noida, owing to the huge population of the twin cities in the district.

“Noida and Greater Noida are hubs of industrialists, media persons, intellectuals, teachers, youth, and retired persons, for whom passport is a big necessity. This is the second victory for the people of GB Nagar, the first being the international airport scheduled to come up at Jewar,” Sharma said.

Earlier, people of Noida would have to travel to passport seva kendra in Ghaziabad for issuance or renewal of their passports after a tedious process of verification by the local police.

“Today, we screened 20 persons for their fingerprints and applications. From tomorrow, 50 persons will be given the chance every day,” Dharmendra Singh, regional passport officer, said.

He said that the new kendra will be fully operational in the next one month.

“We have just about started operations at the new centre and it will take at least a month for the centre to become fully functional. The decision was taken after considering how day by day, the number of passport applications from Noida and Greater Noida are increasing at the Ghaziabad-based centre. Today, we need passport for various emergencies such as medical need, police verification and educational trips, among others,” Singh added.

Noida citizens welcomed the move, saying that it will help save their time and energy.

“Although I recently got my passport issued, I wish this was done earlier so that I did not have to travel to Ghaziabad,” Sumit Josh, a resident of Sector 28, Noida, said.