Coimbatore: The Regional Passport Office in Coimbatore has been awarded the 'Best Performing Passport Office' award for the sixth consecutive time. Its lowest 'entry to exit' time of 21 minutes as against the national average of 60 minutes is one among the many parameters that tilted the award in its favour.
Coimbatore: The Regional Passport Office in Coimbatore has been awarded the 'Best Performing Passport Office' award for the sixth consecutive time. Its lowest 'entry to exit' time of 21 minutes as against the national average of 60 minutes is one among the many parameters that tilted the award in its favour.
The Regional Passport Officer, G Sivakumar stated in a press interaction held today at the Regional Passport Office that the lowest 'entry to exit time' is one of the 12 parameters based on which passport offices across the country are judged for the award. He further mentioned that presently there was no clarity among public about the new provisions in obtaining passports and awareness should be created.
“Birth certificates are not required for those who are born after 1989 which was mandatory earlier. Marriage or divorce certificates are also not mandatory and attestation from a Notary public is no more required. These are a few among the many changes that have been implemented. Those applying for passport should be aware of this," stated Sivakumar.
The Passport Officer also detailed about the Post Office Passport Seva Kendra (POPS) which is functional in four places in the Coimbatore division. “POPS was started for people who come from afar to apply for passport. Under the Coimbatore division, it is now functional in Erode, Namakkal (Rasipuram), Salem and the Nilgiris (Coonoor) . People can go to the concerned Head Post Offices and apply for new passports and get it done there. As of now, 20 percent of the passports are issued through POPS,” stated Sivakumar.
Sivakumar also mentioned, "Through the 'Anywhere India' scheme, anyone from any State or any part of the country can apply through any passport office in the country and not necessarily from their native places. Police verification will anyway be done through the respective police stations in their native districts."
Elucidating on the new initiatives of the Department, Sivakumar highlighted about biometric passports or e-passports. “E-passports are expected to be launched in six months time which will have a microchip inserted in the passport, that makes tampering impossible. Many western countries use this passport which will be launched soon in India too."
The Regional Passport Officer also spoke about the growth of the Coimbatore Passport Office which was started in 2008. "In 2009, the Coimbatore Regional Passport Office issued 73,335 passports while in 2018 a total number of 1811684 passports were issued, which is about two and a half times more than earlier," said Sivakumar.