Union Minister Krishan Pal Gurjar on Wednesday inaugurated a Post Office Passport Seva Kendra (POPSK) in Faridabad, an industrial town in Haryana, adjoining the national capital, said an official release.

"With the inauguration of POPSK in Faridabad, citizens will have the convenience to submit their passport applications in Faridabad itself," the External Affairs Ministry said in the statement.
The pilot projects for this joint venture between the Ministry of External Affairs and the Department of Posts were inaugurated on January 25 at Mysuru in Karnataka and at Dahod in Gujarat.

Following the success of the two pilot projects, the government had decided to scale up the programme by opening 56 such facilities in the first batch of expansion and eight in the second batch across the country.

Till date the citizens of Faridabad had to visit either Passport Seva Kendra in Gurugram or New Delhi.

This POPSK is the first one to be inaugurated under the jurisdiction of Regional Passport Office (RPO), Delhi.

"Work is also underway to start other POPSKs in Delhi," it said.

The POPSK, in the beginning, will accept 30 passport applications per day and appointments have already been booked till May 25.

The Regional Passport Officer, Delhi, served more than 5 lakh applicants each year in 2015 and 2016.

--IANS