Now, passport seva kendras to come up in Idukki, Chengannur

Now, you might not have to travel too far to get your passport as the government has come up with a plan to open passport centres within a radius of 50 km.

External affairs minister Sushma Swaraj on Saturday announced the launch of 149 new Post Office Passport Seva Kendra (POPSK). These will be in addition to 86 POPSKs announced by the Ministry of External Affairs in the first phase, an initiative undertaken jointly by the MEA and the postal department.

In Kerala, the POPSKs will be opened at major post offices in Idukki and Chengannur. Both centres will come under the Kochi passport office. The move comes as a major relief to Kerala where proximity remains the biggest hurdle in applying for passports.

Since coming to power, the NDA government has opened 251 PSKs and POPSKs altogether - with a priority given to northeastern states - since it came to power in May 2014, Swaraj pointed out.

Prior to this, there were only 77 PSKs in the country. Swaraj said more POPSKs will be opened in third phase after the completion of mapping and checking the viability of the post offices.

"We have set up a target that no one has to travel more than a radius of 50 kms to get a passport," PTI quoted her as saying, adding that the MEA and postal department are working to map 810 head post offices and extend the ambit of the scheme.

• Passport office
• Sushma Swaraj
• Idukki
• Chengannur