S Jaishankar Celebrates 12th Passport Seva Divas

New Delhi, India – On the 12th Passport Seva Divas, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar highlighted the ministry’s achievements in 2023. He shared that 1.65 crore passport-related services were provided to Indian citizens, and over 14 lakh visa applications were submitted monthly.

Jaishankar extended his greetings to all passport authorities in India and abroad, emphasizing the ministry’s commitment to providing timely, reliable, accessible, transparent, and efficient services. He noted a commendable annual growth of nearly 15% in passport and related services.

He also mentioned the operationalization of 440 Post Office Passport Seva Kendras (POPSKs) and the integration of passport issuance systems in 187 Missions/Posts abroad. The ministry is working with States/UTs police to reduce the time taken for police verification and has initiated the mPassport Police App in 25 states and UTs, covering 9000 police stations.

Jaishankar highlighted the integration of the Passport Seva System with the DigiLocker system for a paperless documentation process. He emphasized the importance of passports in facilitating international trade, investment, tourism, global mobility, education, diplomatic relations, and crisis management.

He congratulated Team MEA and Team CPO for their efforts and wished success to all stakeholders in the project. Jaishankar concluded by expressing his pleasure in joining the passport-issuing authorities on this special occasion.