Hyderabad RPO is the best in India

The RPO has been awarded outstanding citizen services delivery for 2014

The Hyderabad Regional Passport Office (RPO) was awarded the best passport office in the country for the year 2014 by the Government of India on Friday. Muktesh K Pardeshi, chief passport officer, Ministry of External Affairs, and regional passport officer Ashwini Sattaru announced the achievement.

“Hyderabad topped in the number of applications and services. In the world, India ranks third in passport services, after China and United States of America, by issuing 1.01 crore passports in 2014. Out of five states, Kerala topped in handling over 10 lakh applications in 2014, followed by Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana.”

MEA aims to issues 1.20 Cr passports this year

The Ministry of External Affairs is taking measures to simplify the process of issuing of passports across the country. Muktesh Pardeshi informed that this year too, more than one crore passports are likely to be issued by registering an increase of over 20 per cent applications.

In 2014, applications received included 3,47,621 Police Clearance Certificate (PCC) applications, 2,595 Surrender Certificates (SC), 7,641 Identity Certificates (IC) applications and 4,278 Line of Control (LoC) applications. He added that 3,224 official and 283 diplomatic passports were issued last year through the Passport Seva System.

In addition to the applications received in India, 13.73 lakh applications were received at the 183 Missions and Posts abroad and the same number of passports and related services were rendered. As on December 31, 2014, the number of appointment slots released per day was more than 50,000. This is an increase of 30 per cent over 2013.

Paredeshi informed that as against 61 Passports Melas held in 2014, about 250 Melas would be conducted this year to facilitate more number of applications. He said 77 Passport Seva Kendras with best-in-class amenities have been set up across the country as extended arms of 37 Regional Passports Offices, thus providing extended reach to passport applicants.

A 24x7 national call centre has been set up which provides real-time status and up-to-date information in 17 languages using a toll free number 1800-258-1800. The CPO added that seven Passport Seva Kendras have been set up across Telangana and Andhra Pradesh as extended arms of the second Regional Passport Offices in Hyderabad and Visakhapatnam respectively.

Muktesh assured that new Passport Seva Kendras would be set up in Karimnagar and Bhimavaram in four months. He said that Passport Melas would be held in Medak, Karimangar, Adilabad, Mahabubnagar, Nalgonda and Khammam in Telangana. Similarly, Melas would be held in Chittoor, Kurnool, Prakasam, Anantapur, Kadapa, Guntur and Nellore districts on regular basis.

Passport Services in TS & AP in 2014

• 9.19 lakh passport applications and related services were received and 8.82 lakh passports and related documents have been issued.
• RPO Hyderabad received 7.17 lakh applications for passport and related services and issued 6.87 lakh passports and related documents. This is an increase in the number of applications received by 13 per cent and an increase in services rendered by 9 per cent when compared to 2013.
• RPO Visakhapatnam received 2.02 lakh applications for passport and related services and issued 1.95 lakh passports and related documents. This is an increase in the number of applications received by 37 per cent and services rendered by 34 per cent when compared with last year.
• RPO Hyderabad released 5,277 appointment slots per day
• RPO Visakhapatnam released close to 1,223 appointment slots per day
• In Telangana, on an average, the police take 19 days for police verification. Approximately 73 per cent of the Police Verifications (PVs) get completed within 21 days.
• In Andhra Pradesh, on an average, the police take 15 days for verification. This is an improvement by 12 per cent over 2013.

Approximately 85 per cent of the PVs get completed within 21 days.