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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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coastaldigest.com news network
May 23,2020

Mangaluru, May 23: Criticising the Karnataka government's fresh protocol for management of Covid-19 as expensive, a prominent physician in the city has demanded its withdrawal.

According to Dr B Srinivas Kakkilaya, the protocol released by the Health and Family Welfare Department on May 15 enlists unnecessary and unconfirmed tests and treatments. 

The protocol has classified Covid-19 cases into three categories and has provided for hospitalisation of all three categories of patients, from asymptomatic to the most severely ill.

In a letter to the government, Dr Kakkilaya said: "The protocol suggests several investigations to be done right on the day of admission, including blood counts, liver and renal function tests, chest X Ray, ECG, CT scan of the chest, and other special investigations, all of which, if done, will cost Rs 25,000 per patient."

"In the coming days when lakhs of patients are likely to be infected with SARS CoV2, is it necessary and feasible to hospitalise and test all these patients at Rs 25,000 per person," he questioned.

The treatment options suggested in the protocol are also surprising, he pointed out. "The protocol recommends choloroquine, azithromycin, oseltamivir, zinc and vitamin C for all patients, from asymptomatic to the severely ill, and also anti coagulant injections for many patients. All these would cost at least Rs 5,000 per patient. For severe cases of Covid-19, many unproven and experimental treatments have been suggested, which are very expensive and highly questionable," Dr Kakkilaya notes.

Therefore, this protocol, he asserted was not evidence based and likely to do more harm than good. He said these unnecessarily expensive tests and allowing private companies to conduct trials on Covid-19 patients is likely to be misused by vested interests and must be immediately withdrawn, and instead, a protocol that is evidence-based, simple and avoiding unnecessary expenses, must be developed.

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News Network
May 3,2020

Bengaluru, May 3: The Commissioner of Health and Family Welfare Services in the government of Karnataka KA Dayanand issued an order approving quarantine of asymptomatic COVID-19 infected international passengers on payment basis at star hotels.

The international passengers in the state have been categorised into A, B and C groups depending on their symptoms and co-morbid conditions. Category A passengers are symptomatic and are being sent to isolation hospitals which may be COVID care centres.

Category B and C passengers are asymptomatic and are being sent to institutional facilities like hostels, guest houses, hotels, etc.

"On the basis of demands by category B and C passengers to provide them star hotel accommodation on a self-payment basis, they have been granted the choice of staying in those hotels at their own cost. The BBMP Special Commissioner/Deputy Commissioner can have a meeting with such hotels and finalise the negotiated rate," Commissioner Dayanand said in the order.

"The hotels for category B passengers should have round the clock presence of health personnel while hotels for category C passengers should be visited by health staff once a day," he added.

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News Network
August 6,2020

Bengaluru, Aug 6: With rains in several parts of Karnataka amid Covid-19 pandemic, state Medical Education Minister K Sudhakar on Thursday asked the people to maintain caution and contact the Health department helpline in case of any symptoms.

"There is heavy rain in several districts of the state's coastal, Malnad and north interior regions. People have to observe utmost caution during these rains amid corona infections. In case of any symptoms like fever, cough and cold immediately call the health department helpline 104," Sudhakar tweeted.

As of August 5 evening, cumulatively 1,51,449 Covid-19 positive cases have been confirmed in the state, which includes 2,804 deaths and 74,679 discharges.

Among the districts where the new cases were reported, Bengaluru urban tops the list accounting for 64,881 cases.

Regarding Bengaluru, Sudhakar said, there are 4,276 beds across 11 Covid care centres in Bengaluru.

"As of today morning, 936 of them i.e., 27.79 percent are vacant. Out of the 3,346 patients, 306 patients are due for discharge today," he said in another tweet.

Aimed at availing beds at Covid-19 hospitals for symptomatic patients and those in need, the government had decided to shift all asymptomatic patients to Covid care centres.

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