V K Singh inaugurates Passport Seva Kendra in Nagaland

Kohima, Jan 16: Union Minister V K Singh inaugurated a Passport Seva Kendra at Chumukedima in Dimapur district of Nagaland on Friday and said that it would cater to the greatly felt need of the people of the state.

The newly opened centre would cater to the greatly felt need of the people of the state and they would now get the facilities at their doorstep, the Union Minister of State for Cultural Affairs, Statistics and Programme Implementation said.

This is the seventh Passport Seva Kendra in the Northeast region. Henceforth an applicant from Nagaland need not be physically present before the passport authority at Guwahati in Assam.

Nagaland Chief Minister T R Zeliang said that the opening of the Passport Seva Kendra in Dimapur will provide great relief and convenience for applicants from Nagaland. He pointed out that earlier, additional verification was required by Subsidiary Intelligence Bureau (SIB) for most of the Northeast states like Mizoram, Meghalaya, Manipur and Nagaland.

However this requirement has been done away for other states except Nagaland.

"If this additional SIB verification can be done away with in other states then there is no reason why the same cannot be done here in Nagaland," Zeliang said and requested the Union Minister to take up the matter with appropriate authority for the benefit of the people of the state.

Responding to the Chief Minister's suggestion, Singh assured that the ministry would seek solution over the matter. The lone member of Lok Sabha from Nagaland, Neiphiu Rio also attended the function.

PTI