VIJAYAWADA: An Assistant Passport Officer attached to the Regional Passport Office in Vijayawada was awarded a PhD degree in Law by the Sri Venkateswara University here on Tuesday. Palepogu Ashok Kumar was awarded the degree for his thesis, “Law of Passports in India -- A Critical Study”, prepared and submitted under the guidance of Professor T Sita Kumari, Head of the Department of Law at the Sri Padmavati Mahila Visva Vidyalayam (SPMVV).
“My research findings on the topic reveal that the Digi Locker app introduced by the Government of India will remove the bottlenecks that applicants face, besides easing the police verification process,” Kumar explained. During his career spanning over 30 years, Kumar held several positions at the Regional Passport Offices in Hyderabad and Vijayawada.