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'Passport Seva Kendras' in each 543 parliamentary constituencies: Union minister

Agencies
November 23, 2018

New York, Nov 23: The government plans to open a 'Passport Seva Kendra' in each of the 543 parliamentary constituencies across the country by March next year to ensure convenient passport services to its people, minister of state for external affairs VK Singh said here.

The government is trying to ensure that citizens do not face any difficulty in obtaining their passports whether in India or abroad, he said as he launched the 'Passport Seva' programme at India's Consulate here on Wednesday.

The 'Passport Seva' programme has brought in a huge transformation towards delivery of passport services in the country, Singh said while handing over passports to a few Indian citizens who had used the new programme to renew their passports.

"This project will ensure better services for our citizens abroad. It is a service which is truly meant for citizens," he said at the global launch of the programme here.

The new system will ensure an easy and convenient application submission process, usher-in standardisation, digital overhauling, end-to-end status tracking and enhance security, the minister said.

The government plans to have a 'Passport Seva Kendra' in each of the 543 parliamentary constituencies across the country by March, 2019 to ensure convenient passport services to its citizens, he said.

"We plan to have a Passport Kendra in each head post office (in India) so that any citizen doesn't have to travel beyond 50-60 km for his or her passport services," Singh said.

The government aims that by March next year, each of the 543 Parliamentary constituencies in the country should have one 'Passport Seva Kendra' for the benefit of the citizens, he said.

The year 2017 registered a 19 per cent growth in passport related services. The monthly submission of applications has crossed one million mark for the first time and more than six crore passports have been issued through the 'Pasport Seva' system, the minister said.

The ministry of external affairs (MEA) has taken several measures to improve the passport service delivery experience, including by simplifying several passport rules and doing away with cumbersome requirements that delayed the process and led to unnecessary hurdles, he said.

The MEA with the department of posts took the decision to start 'Passport Seva Kendars' in head post offices.

As a result, 236 'Post Office Passport Seva Kendras' (POPSKs) have been operationalised to date and many more are in the pipeline. This, when added to 36 passport offices and 93 erstwhile 'Passport Seva Kendras', makes a total of 365 passport offices for public.

The MEA has also initiated the integration of 'Passport Seva Programme' at all Indian Embassies and Consulates across the globe.

The MEA has successfully initiated a pilot project at the High Commission of India in London followed by the Consulate General of India in Birmingham and Edinburgh.

After launching the global 'Passport Seva' programme at the Consulate General of India in New York for the Indian diaspora, the MEA will launch the programme at the Indian Embassy in Washington followed by the Consulate in Atlanta.

It aims to operationalise all Embassy/Consulates in the US during the course of next 15 days.

The Indian government plans to roll out the global 'Passport Seva' programme at all Embassies/Consulates within the next three to four months, a move that will ensure that "our 'Passport Seva' globally is inter-linked and centrally controlled," Singh added.

Comments

True.. Modi and his govt highlighting swatchh bharat and doing nothing for that. He and his people put waste on roads and  cleaning that for photographs

Vinod
 - 
Friday, 23 Nov 2018

First buid some women friendly clean and safe toilets in public plces

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News Network
January 23,2020

Mangaluru, Jan 23: City Police Commissioner PS Harsha on Thursday said that Aditya Rao, who had surrendered after planting a bomb at the Mangaluru International Airport, had studied how to assemble an explosive device online.

Speaking to media persons here, Dr Harsha said that 36-year-old Rao, who holds engineering and MBA degrees, had worked in the financial sector for some time, but left, after realising that white-collar jobs were not suited for him and turned towards blue-collar jobs.

He took up a job as a security guard of a reputed college in the district. He also worked at few hotels in the city before leaving for Bengaluru.

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News Network
April 29,2020

Udupi, Apr 29: Personal Protection Equipment (PPE) kit used by the doctors to treat COVID-19 patients was found in the river at Kodangala, Alevoor Gram Panchayat limits, sources said on Wednesday.

According to them, a Panchayat office staff who noticed the PPE thrown in the river informed the Health Department about it on Tuesday and following which a police complaint was filed.

As the PPE is used only for medical treatment, police officials need to investigate who used the kit and in which hospital, who threw it in the river and the purpose of throwing it.

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News Network
June 23,2020

Bengaluru, June 23: Karnataka Congress chief D K Shivakumar has urged his party colleagues to be active on social media to counter the propaganda of Bharatiya Janata Party.

Speaking to media persons, the KPCC president said that no more than 20 out of the 68 Congress MLAs are active on social media.

“All those MLAs who are doing well need to be projected. We want leaders, not mere followers. They all should be the face of Congress in Karnataka. Party should not depend on just my face or Siddaramaiah’s,” he said.

Shivakumar’s diktat has resulted in the party’s social media unit scrambling to get leaders to create their accounts.

“We’re pressuring all the party MLAs and leaders. We’re asking their personal assistants or gunmen to operate their accounts if they are not savvy with social media,” KPCC social media chief A N Nataraj Gowda said.

He pointed out that the 20 MLAs who are active on social media include U T Khader, Dinesh Gundu Rao, Priyank Kharge, Krishna Byre Gowda among others.

“We’re also trying to get the accounts verified of those who are beginning to get active. For example, it was only recently that we got the accounts of S R Patil and Vijay Singh verified,” Gowda said.

Tapping the full potential of social media is crucial for the Congress because the BJP has found much success in reaching out to voters through various online platforms.

In fact, ahead of the 2018 Assembly elections, the Congress found that there were 10 ministers and some 40 MLAs who had turned a blind eye towards social media.

Shivakumar said he was also working on putting in place a system in the party under which all developments related to the state and country will be communicated to all party leaders at 10 am every day.

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