AGRA: There is good news for citizens of the City of Taj. Soon, they will not have to go all the way to Ghaziabad to get their passports issued as this facility will be provided at the new Passport Seva Kendra (POPSK) at Agra Fort Head Post Office in the city. According to a senior official of India Post, the passport centre is expected to start functioning as early as March.
It is a joint initiative of the ministry of external affairs and the department of posts. Senior superintendent of post (SSP), Agra division, Satish Solanki said that all the formalities were done and the centre was expected to open in March.

"After opening of the passport centre in the city, local residents will not have to go all the way to Ghaziabad to get their passports issued. All the process and facilities — such as application form, verification, interview and others mandatory procedures — for issuing a passport will be done at the head post office in Agra," Solanki added.

Solanki added once the elections were over, the passport centre in the city would be opened. "Inspection was carried out by officials of the ministry of the external affairs and they found that the centre is well equipped to handle the work. Citizens can apply for passports once the elections are over," Solanki added.

According to sources at the head post office, after the verification the delivery of the passport will be done by the India Post postmen to the applicants' home.

Passport Seva Kendras are extended arms of passport offices and render front-end services related to passport issuance. These kendras cover functionalities from token issuance to granting of application for passport issue/re-issue and other services. To increase citizens' access to passport services, particularly in remote regions, Union finance minister Arun Jaitley had recently announced that head post offices of each district would be used to render passport services.