CHENNAI: A new Post Office Passport Seva Kendra (POPSK) was opened at Periyar Nagar in Kolathur constituency in Chennai on Thursday, bringing passport services closer to north Chennai residents. Inaugurating the centre, Union Minister of State for Information & Broadcasting and Parliamentary Affairs L Murugan, in a symbolic gesture, handed the first passport issued from the new centre to the parents of a six-month-old.
The POPSK at Kolathur is the second in Chennai, the other being in General Post Office. Murugan said the POPSK reflects a wider strategy of consolidating public services - banking, insurance and Aadhaar enrollment among them - inside post offices, rather than requiring citizens to visit separate government offices.
Murugan linked the expansion to the Direct Benefit Transfer system built up since the centre took office in 2014, which routes welfare payments directly into recipients’ bank accounts. He cited more than 580 million Jan Dhan accounts opened over the past 12 years as the financial backbone of that system.
