Passport Seva Kendra to be shifted, says EAM S Jaishankar

Tribune News Service

Nitin Jain

Ludhiana, March 15

Finally, the Centre has agreed to shift the Passport Seva Kendra (PSK), which was running from a dingy place in Ludhiana for the past over a decade, the Union External Affairs Ministry has announced.

An announcement to this effect was made by the Union External Affairs Minister (EAM), Dr S Jaishankar, in response to the demand made by the Rajya Sabha MP from Ludhiana, Sanjeev Arora.

The development assumes significance as the lone PSK catering to the state’s biggest and largest district, in terms of area and population, was short of space, staff and facilities ever since it was opened here in 2011 following which the visitors had been facing great hardships.

In a communication to Arora, the EAM wrote, “I am happy to inform you that we are in the process of shifting the PSK to a suitable location.”

Jaishankar further stated that the Union Government, under the leadership of the Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, has been constantly improving the passport service delivery process, adding to the ease of living for common citizens.

The EAM has written to Arora in response to the latter’s demand raised on February 3.

In his letter to Jaishankar, the Rajya Sabha member had apprised the EAM that there was paucity of office space, almost no parking space available and waiting area was also short of required capacity at the PSK in Ludhiana, which was opened in 2011.

He had highlighted that waterlogging was also a major concern and caused problems to the visitors during the monsoon season.

“Waiting period for appointment of passport applications was also too long, mainly on account of not enough infrastructure,” Arora had written, while demanding a bigger and better place and adequate staff for the PSK with ample parking space and other allied facilities to avoid great inconvenience currently being faced by the public visiting the office for availing various passport services.

Long-pending demand met

“It was a long-pending demand that has been met now. People visiting the PSK in large numbers were facing great hardships due to lack of space, staff and facilities. I’’m thankful to the EAM, Dr S Jaishankar, for acceding to the demand in larger public interest. I hope the announcement will be implemented shortly to facilitate the public at large,” said Sanjeev Arora, MP.