CHENNAI: In a bid to achieve a target of issuing four lakh passports in 2014, the Chennai Regional Passport office held a Passport mela on Saturday at the Saligrammam office. The mela attracted around 1,250 applicants. Such a mela will also be held on the next two Saturdays.
“Last year, we issued 3.7 lakh passports. This year, we have already issued 3.58 lakh. We shall be working on the remaining two Saturdays as well,” said Senthil Pandian, Regional Passport Officer, Chennai region.
Passport offices are normally closed on the weekend. This is the fifth passport mela held this year. Around 2,100 applications are processed per working day at the three centres in Saligrammam, Tambaram and Nungambakkam.
“At the all-India level, there is a mission of issuing one crore passports in a year,” Pandian said.
The official said that the appointment cycle would be reduced due to the additional working days of the passport office.
“My initial appointment was on December 31. But thanks to the mela, it was carried forward to today,” said S Muthulakshmi, an applicant at the Saligrammam office.