ROURKELA: Union Tribal Affairs Minister Jual Oram on Saturday inaugurated a Passport Seva Kendra (PSK) on the premises of Rourkela Head Post Office, solving the problem of long wait for passport.
Jual said he, along with Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan and Rourkela BJP legislator Dilip Ray, had held discussions with External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj on setting up of a PSK at Rourkela. He said in due course, two more PSKs would be opened in Sambalpur and Koraput districts.
“Earlier, people of Odisha were depending on the passport office at Bhubaneswar. But with the launch of PSK at Rourkela and two more passport offices coming up at Sambalpur and Koraput, the residents of western Odisha would not have to travel long distance to avail the service,” Jual added.
He also hoped that the people of Rourkela would benefit immensely as troubles faced by them in getting passport related services would be removed at the local level. He said businessmen, corporate executives, students, overseas job-seekers, tourists and pilgrims from Sundargarh district and its neighbourhood areas would benefit from the PSKs.
Sources said the new facility would save time and travel cost of the people here. After submission of online application, the PSK would ensure that an applicant need not travel to Bhubneswar as it can provide photograph and biometric evidences here itself.
Chief Post Master Santosh Kamila, Regional Passport Officer Digbijoy Giri, Sundargarh District Collector BS Poonia and RN Pali MLA Subrat Tarai were present at the inaugural event.