NEW DELHI, Oct 7:
Residents of Jammu and Kashmir will be exempted from paying fees for getting replacement of their passports which have been lost or damaged due to floods there, External Affairs Ministry announced today.
Observing that the State has been affected by severe floods which have resulted in unprecedented loss of life and property, MEA said in order to contribute to the relief efforts that are currently underway, it has decided to take immediate steps to restore back the passport facilities to the flood affected passport holders whose passports have been lost or damaged due to floods.
“External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj has today approved waiver of Passport fees to the flood affected Passport holders in J&K. This waiver of fee would be one time exception for the Passport holders whose earlier Passport has been issued either from Passport Office, Jammu or from Passport Office, Srinagar.
“This scheme would be valid for next six months (valid from the date of issue of Gazette notification in this regard),” the ministry said in a statement here.
The replacement passport would be issued with the same particulars and remaining validity of previous passport, it added.
Regional Passport Office in Srinagar, located on 1st floor of the building of Passport Seva Kendra, will accept applications for replacements, the MEA spokesperson said.
Kashmir was hit by one of the worst floods last month that killed at least 285 people and caused an estimated Rs 1,00,000 crore in damage to homes, shops and infrastructure. (PTI)
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