India to soon roll out e-passports for citizens

Agencies | New Delhi                 

The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com

The Passport Seva Programme (PSP) will be embarking on an upgraded version, PSP V2.0, to ensure a digital ecosystem among all stakeholders, said External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar

The government of India is working to roll out e-passports that would ease international travel and enable protection against identity theft, Minister of External Affairs S Jaishankar said Friday.

Speaking on the occasion of Passport Seva Divas, celebrated on June 24, Dr Jaishankar reiterated the government’s dedication to enhancing citizen experience and public service.

The Minister announced that the Ministry’s Passport Seva Programme (PSP) would be embarking on an improved and upgraded version of PSP V2.0 to ensure a digital ecosystem among all stakeholders and offer enhanced passport services to citizens.

“The new system would ensure smooth end-to-end governance through standardized and liberalized processes. Use latest emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence, chat-bot, big data, advanced analytics etc.”

He added, “The Ministry is also working to roll out e-passports for Indian citizens, which would make international travel easier and enable protection against identity theft and greater data security,” he added.

The Minister also said the Passport Seva System had been integrated with the DigiLocker system to facilitate a paperless documentation process. “The Ministry, in collaboration with the Department of Posts, operationalized 428 Post Office Passport Seva Kendras (POPSKs) to reach our citizens at their doorsteps. The Ministry has successfully integrated the passport issuance systems in 178 of our Embassies and Consulates abroad,” he added.

“It gives me great pleasure to join all our Passport Issuing Authorities in India and abroad on the occasion of the Passport Seva Divas 2022,” he said. “Even during the challenging times of the COVID-19 outbreak, according to the minister of external affairs, passport services were offered,” added the Minister.

The government set a record while dealing with the increased demand due to the pandemic, with a monthly average of 900,000 passports and 450,000 additional applications granted in the last month.