Standardisation of documents for passport application soon

NEW DELHI, June 23:The Ministry of External Affairs will soon introduce standardisation of documents to be� submitted with application for passport to save the public� from inconvenience.Additional Secretary, Consular Passport and Visa, BK� Gupta, said here that at present the requirement of the� number and nature of documents varied from state to state,� which was causing unnecessary inconvenience to the people.�Within two to three weeks, we are going to set up� norms and issue guidelines to all regional passport� offices,� he said while replying to questions at a media� briefing about the response to today�s passport fairs held� at seven passport offices and 30 passport seva kedndras� across the country.These fairs arranged for on Saturdays and Sundays are� aimed at clearing what the Ministry called the� �unprecedented� rush for passport in the current season.Mr Gupta said the passport department was preparing a� manual for training of staff so as to make the public aware� of the exact nature and number of documents to be� submitted.He said there has been very good response to the fair� held today.These fairs are being held in passport offices and� Passport Seva Kendras under the jurisdiction of Delhi,� Ghaziabad, Bengaluru, Chennai, Hyderabad, Lucknow and� Amritisar.�If needed we would hold these fairs in West Bengal� also,� Mr Gupta said, replying to a question.The application for all passport related services� other than tatkal will be accepted during the Passport� fairs.The process has been made as simple as possible.� The requirement of taking online appointment and obtaining biometrics of the applicant except the digitised photograph� has been done away with as a special case for the two� days, Mr Gupta said.He said last year seven million passport were issued� and this year there has been an increase of 15 per cent.At present about 50 million people in the country were� holding passport.�We are training our staff to the maximum along with� the our service providers the Tata Consultancy Services to� provide the most advanced passport services,� Mr Gupta� added.(UNI)