MEA On Passport Verification: Police verification is an important process for getting a passport and earlier it used to take a lot of time, but in some states its time limit has been reduced.
Police Verification For Passport: The Modi government is constantly trying to improve the process for those getting passports. In this sequence, Union External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said on Monday (June 24) that the Ministry of External Affairs is working to reduce the time taken in police verification of passport applicants. For this, the MEA is trying to coordinate with the police of the states and union territories.
On the occasion of Passport Seva Diwas, Jaishankar said that his ministry is committed to ensuring that passports have a significant impact on the country’s development by facilitating international trade and investment and increasing global mobility. He informed that to provide better passport services, the ministry has started 440 Post Office Passport Service Centers. This is in addition to 93 passport service centers, 533 passport processing centers and 37 regional passport offices across the country. The ministry has also integrated the passport issuance system in 187 Indian missions abroad.
MPassport Police App launched in 9 thousand police stations
Jaishankar said, “To further improve the passport distribution ecosystem, the ministry is constantly working with the police of the states/union territories to reduce the time taken in police verification.”
He said that the “MPassport Police App” which simplifies the police verification process has been launched in 9,000 police stations across 25 states and union territories. He further said, “The passport service system has been successfully integrated with the DigiLocker system to facilitate a paperless documentation process.”
MPassport Police App reduces verification time
Giving information in the Lok Sabha in December 2023, Jaishankar had said, the nationwide average time for police verification is 14 days. However, in the states and union territories where the MPassport Police app has been launched, the average time for police verification has come down to less than five days.
Jaishankar had said at that time that excluding the time of police verification, the average time taken to issue a normal passport is seven to 10 days and the average time for a tatkal passport is one to three days. He had said, “Police verification of applicants’ details plays an important role in the timely dispatch of passports.”
