The government is working on integrating Indian embassies and consulates with passport seva projects, External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna said today.

Integration of crime-and-criminal tracking system, emigration, visa, foreigners' registration and tracking and e-migration will be linked, Mr Krishna said.

The Ministry will also set up 16 mini Passport Seva Kendras in the North-East and other parts of the country, he said after inaugurating 13 Passport Seva Kendras (PSKs) in Kerala in the presence of Chief Minister Oommen Chandy at a function here. Mr Krishna said delay in police verifications can be reduced with increased coordination between local police and passport offices and added that Kerala's pleas for PSKs at Pathnamthitta, Idukki, Kasaragod, Wynad and Palakaad would be looked into.

With the inauguration of 13 PSKs at Thiruvananthapuram, Kochi, Neyyatinkara, Kollam, Aluva, Alaupuzha, Kottayam, Thrissur, Kozhikode, Vadakara, Kannur, Payyannnoor and Malappuram, 70 of 77 proposed kendras all over the country are operational.

The rest will be operational in the next few weeks.

The Minister lauded Tata Consultancy Services for speedy implementation of the Passport Seva Project, the e-governance initiative undertaken by the Ministry to comprehensively overhaul the passport issuance system.

About 7.46 lakh passports were issued in Kerala in 2011, an increase of 21 per cent. There are about 5.5 million Keralites are in West Asia, contributing significantly in foreign remittances.

“There was a time when India's foreign exchange reserves were negligible. But today it is bulging and the biggest contribution is from Kerala,” he said.

Further streamlining of procedures and computerisation at passport offices and decentralisation of applications are sustained efforts in this regard, he said.

Mr Chandy said that in order to reduce time lag in police verification, the State government would hold talks with the police brass in two weeks' time. Kerala wanted five more PSKs and government would provide full support to the union government, he said and added that the government was giving top priority to matters relating to NRKs.

Minister of State for Foreign Affairs E. Ahamed, Minister of State for Power K.C. Venugopal, and Minister for Food and Consumer Affairs K.V. Thomas were among those who spoke.

The PSK pilot project was launched in Bangalore in May 2010 and the nation-wide rollout began in June 2011.

‘There was a time when India's foreign exchange reserves were negligible. But today it is bulging and the biggest contribution is from Kerala.'

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