Passport within three days of police verification: Pranab

CHENNAI: You can get your new passport within three days of police verification under a new scheme, External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee said here on Tuesday.
He said the tenders for the 'Passport Seva Scheme' under public-private partnership was in an advanced stage.
Mukherjee said the External Affairs Ministry was "taking steps to issue e-passports in the category of ordinary passports by the second half of next year". The pilot project for issuance of e-passports for the diplomatic and official categories was almost complete and the e-passports would be issued in the coming weeks, he said.
The minister said the number of passport seekers in the country is likely to touch the one crore mark by 2011.
After reviewing the working of the branch secretariats of his ministry and passport offices, he asked the passport issuing authorities to gear up to meet the growing demand.
Last year, a total of 44 lakh passports were issued all over the country and passport offices in the south accounted for 21 lakh passports, he said. He said a passport office would be opened in Coimbatore by next month.