BANGALORE: As the passport seva kendras (PSKs) enter into the third year since their inception in Bangalore city, the period from April 2012 to April 2013 passport applications processed increased by over 20% from approximately 30,500 to 36,500 on a monthly basis.
According to the PSK records the percentage of police verifications completed within 21 days increased from 31% (in 2010) to 43% (in quarter ending March 2013).
Pendency for Police verification completion is currently at an all-time low (41,500). Since, 2010 Bangalore RPO processed 11.75 lakh passport applications and issued 10.9 lakh passports. It is stated that there was 43% growth in applications processed yearly from 2010-2011 to 2012-13.
Bangalore was the first city in which the pilot phase of PSK that was first launched in 2010. There are two in Bangalore and one each in Hubli and Mangalore.
“In the last three years of Passport Seva Project in Bangalore, we have successfully processed 11.75 lakh passport applications and issued 10.9 lakh Passports/PCC to the citizens. To make the whole experience citizen friendly, we have also organized several Passport Mela(s) to enhance the accessibility of passports for people and ease the rush of applicants,” L Madan Kumar Reddy, Acting Regional Passport Officer, Bangalore, said.
The last three years have seen number of passport applications processed by Bangalore RPO has increased by over 43%, while from April 2012 to April 2013 the increase is 20% i.e. from 30,500 to 36,500 on a monthly basis. With the pendency of Police Verification (PV) reports at an all-time low (41,500), there has been a tremendous increase in the percentage of PV’s completed within 21 days i.e. from 31% (in 2010) to 43% (in quarter ending March 2013).
The application handling capacity at the two PSKs (Lal Bagh in Bangalore and Mangalore) was doubled so as to accommodate more applicants and address high demand for passports.
Bangalore RPO is handling more than 2000 passport applications on a daily basis, which is five times more than it used to handle three years back.
