THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Passport Office situated at Kaithamukku here will only accept Tatkal applications from January 23, while leaving the regular applications with the Passport Seva Kendras at Vazhuthacaud here and in Kollam. Applications from the three southern districts, including Pathanamthitta, will be processed in the Seva Kendras.
Passport Officer P V Mathew told Express that in due course of time, only Seva Kendras will entertain filing of applications for passport. Online registration and acceptance of applications on website www.passportindia.gov.in has been in operation in the Kendras from January 16. Most of the officers in the Passport Office have already been posted in the Seva Kendras.
The Passport Office here has been issuing an average 12,000-13,000 passports every month, of which, around 30 per cent are issued on ‘tatkal’ basis. The number of pending applications in the office is around 12,000.
With online registration and processing, the delay in issuance of passports could be minimised, according to the authorities.
The Passport Office here is expected to become a full-scale nodal office of the Seva Kendras under it, in two months’ time. In lieu of the support from the National Informatics Centre to the Passport Offices, Tata Consultancy Services is providing the networking and database support.