The Ministry of External Affairs has launched the DigiLocker services for Passport Seva Programme. With the introduction of this facility, passport seekers will not be required to display all the original papers at the time of application. The whole process has now been made easier through the DigiLocker program.
According to Union Minister of State for External Affairs V Muraleedharan, integration between the Digilocker app and the ‘Passport Seva Programme’ is a major change towards expanding passport services in the country. This will provide a great facility to passport seekers.
According to the External Affairs Ministry, the number of passport seekers has increased in the last six years. For the first time in 2017, more than 10 lakh people applied in a month.
“We are also working towards rolling out e-passports for the citizens that are designed to increase security, making it more difficult to tamper with the data recorded on a passport, thereby limiting the chances of fraud,” Muraleedharan said at an event.
555 locations for the passport in India
According to statistics, 426 Post Office Passport Seva Kendras (POPSK) have been commissioned and many more are coming soon. At present, passports can be availed from 426 Post Office Passport Seva Kendras with 36 Passport Offices and 93 existing Passport Seva Kendras. Taking these into account, passport services are available at a total of 555 locations in India.
The process of making e-passports in the country is also going on in terms of enhancing the security of citizens during the Coronavirus(COVID-19) period.
Digilocker also became an official alternative to the physical Driving License card back in September 2019, allowing users to show their license via the app instead of the original card.
