The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh / Hyderabad News : 2,500 passports pertaining to Krishna district issued

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Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh - Hyderabad

2,500 passports pertaining to Krishna district issued

Staff Reporter

This is a record, says Regional Passport Officer

RPO B. Bala Bhaskar (centre) showing a passport ready to be despatched to Vijayawada MP L. Rajagopal at the Regional Passport Office in Hyderabad on Saturday. Vijayawada Mayor Mallika Begum looks on.

HYDERABAD: The Regional Passport Office on Saturday issued 2,500 passports pertaining to Krishna district residents in the wake of the mega passport awareness and registration camp conducted at Vijayawada from July 12 to 15.

The camp, which was conducted in coordination with Lanco Trust, evoked a good response from residents as there were over 10, 000 registrations during the four days. Nearly 4,000 residents applied for passports, of which 2,500 were being issued through the Postal Department, said Regional Passport Officer B. Bala Bhaskar while addressing a press conference here on Saturday.

On an average, 2,000 passports were issued per day across the State. This was probably a record wherein 2,500 passports belonging to one district were issued in one day, he informed.

The camps were conducted under single window system, wherein trained volunteers helped the residents fill the applications. Other services, including banks, police support, notary, photo copiers etc. were made available at the camps for the convenience of residents, he added.

Vijayawda MP Lagadapati Rajagopal said a request was made to the Central Government to upgrade the Vijayawada passport collection centre into a regional passport office. The Centre had already short-listed 68 such centres across the country and Vijayawada centre was one among them, he said.

Police enquiry

He further informed that an appeal was made to the government to simplify the police enquiry process as it was delaying the passport issuance to the residents. Owing to dearth of staff in the police department, the enquiry process was getting delayed and eventually it was causing inconvenience to applicants, he added.

Vijayawada Mayor Malika Begum and others also spoke on the occasion.

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