MEA to further streamline Passport issue process: Ahamed

Bangalore, July 21 (UNI) The Ministry of External Affairs will further streamline the issuance process of passports in Regional Passport Offices (RPOs) in view of the increase in demand for passport services, Minister of State for External Affairs E Ahamed said today.

Speaking after releasing Machine Readable Passport (MRP) booklet services to help frequent travellers at the RPO here, he said that with India's international profile, fast growing economy and increasing integration with global economy, there was a phenomenal growth in Indians travelling abroad in recent years.

The first booklet of MRP, introduced for the first time in the country, was presented to Mr N R Narayana Murthy, non-executive Chairman and Chief Mentor of IT major Infosys Technologies.

''Bangalore RPO has taken special initiatives, apart from Passport camps and Adalats, to cater to specialised needs of large corporates. This spirit of public-private partnerships has been well received and should continue,'' Mr Ahamed said.

He said passport offices had issued 44 lakh passports last year and the number was expected to touch 50 lakhs this year.

In Karnataka, the number was 3.1 lakh last year, a 40 per cent jump compared to the figures of 2005.

The Ministry was considering to open tele-centres on the lines of call centres to cater to growing number of passport applicants making inquiries over telephone, he said.

Speaking at the function, Mr Murthy said India had not entered a stage where a traveller could enter a foreign country without a visa. Hence, booklet type of passports were necessary to help frequent flyers.

''I had spoken to Foreign Secretary Shiv Shankar Menon recently in this regard. We have to make our country a better destination for foreign investment and the IT sector will always extend its help to the Government in this regard,'' he added.

UNI