Chennai:Passport applicants in Puducherry and neighbouring Cuddalore and Villupuram districts of Tamil Nadu could heave a sigh of relief as Ministry of External Affairs is planning to open a Passport Seva Kendra in Puducherry.
Regional Passport Officer C Senthil Pandian told reporters on Wednesday that the new passport seva Kendra is likely to be set up in two to three months.
He said that the government of Puducherry has already identified a building and it has been transferred to the jurisdiction of regional passport office.
“Currently, renovation work is going on and it is likely that it would function within the next two to three months,” Pandian said.
Interestingly, this could be a big relief for passport applicants living in Puducherry, Cuddalore and Villupuram districts as people travel more than 100 kilometres to apply as well as renew their passports.
Pandian said that Chennai recieves the most number of applications.
“We receive nearly 50 per cent of passport applications from Chennai,”
he says. He also said that the police verification is done at a faster pace in Chennai and Tiruvanamalai.
Talking about the statistics, he said that the Regional Passport Office in Chennai has issued over 3.90 lakh passports in 2014. This is more than the target of 3.83 lakh passports set by the ministry.
The appointments given to customers every day at three passport seva kendras in Chennai have been increased from 1,850 to 2,730.