On Passport Seva Divas, Jaishankar Unveils Passport Seva 2.0 and e-Passports, Marking a New Era of Fast, Secure & Inclusive Services
The Voice of Chandigarh News:
Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) celebrated Passport Seva Divas on 24 June 2025 to mark the enactment of the Passports Act on 24 June 1967. A three-day Regional Passport Officers (RPO) Conference is being organized from 23-25 June 2025 coinciding with this event.
In his message on the Passport Seva Divas, External Affairs Minister (EAM) Dr. S. Jaishankar, felicitated the Ministry for implementing PSP Version 2.0 along with the e-Passport project. EAM also mentioned that the journey of passport service from 91 lakh passports in the year 2014 to 1.46 crore passports in the year 2024 has been marked by innovations including the m-Police app, Post Office Passport Seva Kendras (POPSK), GPSP etc. which has made passport delivery relatively quicker and hassle free even in the remotest parts of the country.
Pabitra Margherita, Minister of State for External Affairs presided over the Passport Seva Divas celebration on 24th June 2025. In his address, he stated that the most striking feature of the passport delivery service today is its inclusive nature and affordability. He also appreciated the innovative efforts of the Passport Offices such as Tribal Cooperative Marketing Development Federation of India Limited (TRIFED) outlets in the passport office which promotes tribal welfare, solar plants and rainwater harvesting plants. He appreciated the efforts of the Ministry of External Affairs, Department of Posts and other stakeholders for making the passport services more transparent and efficient. He expressed gratitude to Hon’ble Prime Minister and External Affairs Minister Dr. S. Jaishankar for their inspiration and guidance towards reforms for delivery of the passport services in the country. On this occasion, MoS also presented awards to officers, officials and organizations for their contribution in increasing the outreach as well as efficiency of passport delivery services.
The RPO Conference saw the participation of the Passport Officers from 37 Passport Offices across India and officers of the Central Passport Organization led by Joint Secretary (PSP) & Chief Passport Officer Dr. K.J. Srinivasa. Fruitful deliberations were held on several issues including Passport Seva Project Version 2.0, roll out of e-Passports, human resource development, capacity building, public grievance handling mechanism, security related issues, etc. with an aim of imparting faster, secure and hassle free passport services to citizens.
