CHENNAI: Tamil Nadu is likely to have 11 more additional Post Office Passport Seva Kendras in the second phase for delivery. R Anand, postmaster-general, Chennai City Region, told Express that presently post offices in Vellore and Salem are processing passport applications and efforts are on to add more post offices which can provide passport- related services.
Sources said the Centre is planning to open Post Office Passport Seva Kendras in the State at 11 places in the second phase. They are Cuddalore, Dindigul, Namakkal, Perambalur, Pudukottai, Ramanathapuram, Sivaganga, Tirupur, Villupuram, Virudhunagar and Kanniyakumari. This is aimed at making the passport issuance process hassle-free and ease burden on passport offices in the country grappling with a large volume of applications, said Anand.
Interestingly, post offices in the State are not only offering passport services, but also offering services pertaining to Aadhaar cards. “We are offering Aadhaar updation at post offices. If someone has an issue pertaining to correction in name or address, they can walk to the nearest post office and get it done.”
He said it is roughly estimated that over three lakh people in the country want their Aadhaar to be updated and this could go to six lakh shortly. “We are planning to provide the service in all post offices in Chennai region, which also includes Puducherry and Northern Tamil Nadu. Currently, 10 post offices in Chennai region are providing the services.” During the last month-and-a-half, around 5,600 Aadhaar cards were updated, Anand said.
He also said efforts are on to integrate post offices in Chennai region with the rest in India under the Core Banking Solutions by December end.
Factfile
❶ Chennai Region of India Post has 23 lakh postal accounts, including 10.84 lakh saving accounts, 2.4 lakh Sukanya Samriddhi Accounts, Public Provident Fund accounts and Senior Citizens Savings Accounts
❷ TN has 97 India Post ATMs of which 21 are located in North TN. This include 10 in Chennai alone
❸ India Post ATMs offer five free transactions a day which is highest when compared to other bank ATMs