Launch of Passport Seva Project in Houston
Acting Consul General Surendra Adhana Lighting the Lamp
HOUSTON: The Consulate General of India, Houston on November 28, 2018 inaugurated the Passport Seva Project (PSP) in Houston. A team led by Minister of State for External Affairs, General (Rtd) V. K Singh has been in USA to launch the Project at Indian Embassy, Washington DC and in five Consulates- Atlanta, Chicago, Houston, New York and San Francisco. During the inaugural event in Houston, the Acting Consul General, Surendra Adhana joined by senior official from the Indian Ministry of External Affairs, Mr. A K Singh handed over the first-ever passports printed using this project to the applicants on the spot.
Passport Applicants along with the Consular Officers
Earlier, the passports applications were processed in the Consulate in Houston, while the printing was done in India. The entire process used to take about 6-10 days. Now, with the launching of the Passport Seva Programme (PSP) Project in Houston, all the passports will be locally printed. It will drastically simplify the overall procedure and reduce the turnaround time. One of the applicants, who was present during the event, received his passport within 48 hours of submission of application!
Indian Citizen getting one of the first locally printed passports in Houston
The new system is aimed at enhancing the experience of the applicants in submitting their applications, ushers-in standardization, digital overhauling, end-to-end status tracking and enhanced security. Apart from the speedy delivery of passports, this program connects the Consulate database with the central database, which makes the application process even faster. The Consulate General of India, Houston has issued over 16,200 passports in this year alone. With this new initiative, Consulate ensures better and faster services for all Indian citizens here in south-west part of US said the Acting Consul General.
Indian Citizen getting one of the first locally printed passports in Houston
The Passport Seva Project launched in May 2010 by the Ministry of External Affairs of the Government of India, has augmented and improved the delivery of passport services to Indian citizens. The Ministry of External Affairs, with Department of Posts, took the decision to start Passport Seva Kendras in Head Post Offices. As a result, 236 Post Office Passport Seva Kendras (POPSKs) have been operationalized as on date and many more are in pipeline. This, when added to 36 Passport Offices and 93 erstwhile Passport Seva Kendras makes a total of 365 Passport Offices for public.
The Passport Seva Project since its inception has brought huge transformation towards delivery of Passport Services in India. As part of this initiative, the Ministry successfully initiated the Pilot program at the High Commission of India, London followed by the Consulate General of India in Birmingham and in Edinburgh. The Ministry aims to operationalize this project in all Embassy/ Consulates in the US during the course of next 10 days. The Ministry plans to roll out the Global Passport Seva Project at all Embassies/ Consulates in the world within the next 3-4 months.