As the Passport Seva Kendra (PSK) at Himanchal Vihar at Matigara here began official work on Monday, a large number…
Passport Seva Kendra, Siliguri
As the Passport Seva Kendra (PSK) at Himanchal Vihar at Matigara here began official work on Monday, a large number of applicants turned up at the office, while appointments have been booked till 5 March, officials at the PSK said. Sources and applicants, however, said the PSK is short of staff and this could delay work.
The services offered by the PSK are fresh passport issuance, reissuance, Tatkal and Police Clearance Certificate (PCC), it is learnt. “The PSK will receive 100 applications for normal and reissuance of passports, 10 for Tatkal passports and 10 PCC.
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The PSK will function from Monday to Friday, between 9:30 and 5:30 pm,” Regional passport Officer Bibhuti Bhushan Kumar said “As appointments have been booked till 5 March, new appointments will be given after the said date, However, a Passport Mela is being organized on Saturday to process 120 appointments to reduce the appointment cycle,” Mr Kumar said.
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“The PSK will function only this Saturday, while it will remain closed on normal Saturdays, Sundays and holidays,” he added. Deputy passport officer, Tapan Das, said that the PSK will entertain applicants with online appointments alone. “As per the orders, we will receive 120 applications daily online.
Moreover, out of the 12 documents enlisted, the applicant has to submit any three documents wherein the ‘Aadhaar card’ submission is mandatory,” said Mr Das. Briefing on the number of staff rendering service at the PSK, Mr Das said, “There are four officials of the regional passport office, Deputy Passport officer, Granting officer and two verification officers.
Further, there are three employees from the Tata Consultancy service, one resident engineer and two citizen service executives.” The PSK at Himachal Vihar, which has come up on a 4327 sq ft area of a building owned by the Siliguri Jalpaiguri Development Authority (SJDA), was inaugurated by Darjeeling MP and Union minister of state for drinking water and sanitation, SS Ahluwalia, on 17 February.
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