(a) the number of passport offices to be opened by the Government at district level along with the details thereof;
(b) whether there is a proposal to open passport office in Seoni district under Balaghat (MP) Parliamentary Constituency;
(c) if so, the details thereof;
(d) if not, the reasons for not opening the passport office so far; and
(e) the time by which the passport office is likely to be opened In Seoni by the Government?
THE MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF EXTERNAL AFFAIRS
[SHRI V. MURALEEDHARAN]
(a) The Ministry in association with the Department of Posts decided in January 2017 to open Passport Kendras at the Head Post Offices (HPO)/ Post Offices (PO) in the country called ‘Post Office Passport Seva Kendra’ (POPSK) in order to bring passport services closer to people residing in villages/remote/rural areas of the country. Under this initiative, there are 424 POPSKs operational in the country as on 31st October, 2019. This list is at Annexure – I. In addition, there are 93 Passport Seva Kendras (PSK) operational in the country as on 28th November, 2019. The list is at Annexure – II. The total functional Passport Seva Kendras in the country is 517 which are working as extended arms of the 36 Passport Offices in the country. The list of these Passport Offices is at Annexure III.
(b) & (c) Yes, there is a proposal to open a POPSK in Seoni.
(d) & (e) The Ministry is working closely with the Department of Posts for the early operationalisation of POPSK at Seoni.
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