Puducherry launches mobile application to streamline police verification for passports

Puducherry Chief Minister V Narayanasamy today said there has been a rise in the number of applications received for passports, from the Union Territory and neighbouring Cuddalore district of Tamil Nadu, at the Passport Seva Kendra in Puducherry. Launching the Mobile App Scheme for police verification of applications to issue passports, Narayanasamy said that around 5,000 applications were received every month at the Kendra for passports. [caption id=“attachment_3752933” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Representational image. AFP[/caption] “Puducherry is a small state, but the number of applications received for passport here is larger as the link Puducherry has with several countries is broad based,” he said. Puducherry is the second Union Territory after Daman and Diu to launch the mobile App scheme and this “citizen friendly initiative would reduce the passport processing time by ten days,” he added. Regional Passport Officer Chennai P K Ashok Babu in a release here said that the introduction of the mobile app scheme was intended to expedite process of issuance of passports and for speedy submission of police verification report. The field level verification officers would now find it easy to directly capture the police verification report into the system digitally. “With the launch of the app the need to download and print the physical personal details form and also the questionnaire would no longer be required, he said. This would result in paperless and end-to-end digital flow of the verification process and reduce the time required for completion of the police verification report within the desired time limit,” the release added. Director General of Police S K Gautam, Chief Secretary to government Manoj Parida, legislators and officials of the Passport Seva Kendra Puducherry were present.