Jeddah: With a significant budgetary allocation for the second phase of the Passport Seva Programme (PSP-V2.0) , the Ministry of External Affairs is preparing to roll-out digital passports.
Rs. 1,002.78 crore was made in 2023-24 for enhancing Passport services specifically issuing e-passports and e-Migrate for technological upscaling of services to an increasing number of workers going out of the country, issuing online Emigration Clearance (EC), and fostering end-to-end links between workers, foreign employers and clearance systems to improve working environment for Indian workers in abroad in general and gulf countries in particular.
The new feature under the PSP-V2.0 will be the replacement of traditional passport with digital one to make it more secure and ensure smooth passage through immigration posts globally.
The e-Passport will be embedded with a chip that contains personal details of the holder including biographical information.
Government is determined to open a Seva Kendra in every Lok Sabha constituency — where there is no Passport Seva Kendra (PSK) or Post Office Passport Seva Kendra (POPSK).
There are 93 PSKs, 429 POPSKs and 36 Passport Offices are operational in addition to more than 176 Indian missions abroad. These all were connected through Global Passport Seva Prgamme (GPS) to provide seamless delivery of passport services to India Diaspora.
The Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), India’s largest IT services firm, has won the PSP project that valued about Rs. 8000 crores according to some news reports.
India is top amongst nations whose citizens are living abroad with 32 million Non-Resident Indians. Hyderabad Regional passport office stands third in India for its services.
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