Passports to be available in three days

[karira]

Passports to be available in three days

New Delhi, July 7: The ministry of external affairs is planning to embrace information and communication technology (ICT) to “guarantee” that passports are issued within three days “anywhere in the country” and to enable an applicant to learn within 20 minutes of applying online, whether he or she will get the passport or not, foreign secretary Shivshankar Menon said.

The ministry of external affairs is also mulling to introduce mid-career training for diplomats and completely reviewing promotions and assessments, Mr Menon said on Saturday after releasing two books on diplomacy at the Indian Council of World Affairs. The mid-career training would be mandatory at various levels.

Dwelling on the other reforms proposals, he said that intranet would be introduced in the ministry of external affairs by the end of next year. Also, Management Information Systems (MIS) would be introduced in the next two months. “We intend to use ICT for our internal communication and to interface with the public,” he explained. Mr Menon said, “We have a huge opportunity to remake ourselves in the ministry of external affairs because India is changing and the world is changing. [We need to] modernise the way we work and how we work. A change in mindset and attitude [is needed].”

He added, “[Today] diplomats serve democratic masters. [It is the job of the ministry of external affairs to] coordinate all different interests that go into foreign policy and [it is for diplomats to think] how to bring value to India’s multiple transactions with the world.” Mr Menon released the book, titled Asian Diplomacy: The Foreign Ministries of China, India, Japan, Singapore and Thailand, written by a retired Indian diplomat, Mr Kishan S. Rana.

Deccan Chronicle on the web

[karira]

Owner, Moderators, Members, Guests of this forum,

Today, we deserve a small pat on our backs.
I am sure that the RTI Applications drafted and filed by some of us were noticed by the MEA.
I just hope that some other Officer doesn't sabotage this well intentioned move.
When it is implemented, Kushal can safely "lock" the passport thread.
QED

[Louis Fernandes]

1. Who is the PIO for co-operative housing societies, Mumbai -
Maharashtra. His address please.

2. Is the application fee of Rs. 10/- to be drawn in favour of him?

Many Thanks!

Louis Fernandes

[karira]

Louis,

I gave you the information in your thread:

Co-operative Housing Societies

Please check.

[Khushu]

Ask Foreign Secretary to think again. I am struggling for over a year for my wife's passport having deposited all necessary documents and police verification over more than nine months back.

Originally Posted by karira

Passports to be available in three days

New Delhi, July 7: The ministry of external affairs is planning to embrace information and communication technology (ICT) to “guarantee” that passports are issued within three days “anywhere in the country” and to enable an applicant to learn within 20 minutes of applying online, whether he or she will get the passport or not, foreign secretary Shivshankar Menon said.

The ministry of external affairs is also mulling to introduce mid-career training for diplomats and completely reviewing promotions and assessments, Mr Menon said on Saturday after releasing two books on diplomacy at the Indian Council of World Affairs. The mid-career training would be mandatory at various levels.

Dwelling on the other reforms proposals, he said that intranet would be introduced in the ministry of external affairs by the end of next year. Also, Management Information Systems (MIS) would be introduced in the next two months. “We intend to use ICT for our internal communication and to interface with the public,” he explained. Mr Menon said, “We have a huge opportunity to remake ourselves in the ministry of external affairs because India is changing and the world is changing. [We need to] modernise the way we work and how we work. A change in mindset and attitude [is needed].”

He added, “[Today] diplomats serve democratic masters. [It is the job of the ministry of external affairs to] coordinate all different interests that go into foreign policy and [it is for diplomats to think] how to bring value to India’s multiple transactions with the world.” Mr Menon released the book, titled Asian Diplomacy: The Foreign Ministries of China, India, Japan, Singapore and Thailand, written by a retired Indian diplomat, Mr Kishan S. Rana.

Deccan Chronicle on the web

[sagginyou]

dear
kafi badhiya kaam kiye

[karira]

As reported by Nirmala Ganapathy in economictimes.com on 3 March 2008:
Welcome

Passport Seva to skip the queue


ALMOST six months after the Cabinet approved the ambitious Passport Seva Project, the government has prequalified six companies for the project which promises a passport in three days. It is learnt that Tata Consultancy Services, Wipro, 3i Infotech, Spanco, Electronics Corporation of India and Bharat Electronic have been pre-qualified for the passport project, which also promises to cut down hours of queuing at the passport office to 45 minutes.

The Tender Committee, which includes representatives from the department of information technology and home ministry, is expected to choose one of these companies for the project by the end of March or beginning of April, according to government sources.

They added that technical evaluation are going on at the moment. After the technical evaluation, the government is looking to award the project to the shortlisted company that quotes the lowest service fee. The scheme couldn’t have come at a more needed time. Getting a passport right now is neither timely nor in a comfortable environment.

According to MEA figures, demands for a passport have risen 2.2% from 1997 to 2007. In 2007, 50 lakh passports were issued while in 2006, 44 lakh passport were issued. The government estimates that by 2011 there will be a demand for 1 crore passports a year. Though it remains to be seen if the new project is able to cope with the increasing demand, the government with the help of the private service provider is promising timeliness, transparency and accessibility in getting a passport.

Though a public private partnership is being initiated for the first time in what is traditionally considered a sensitive area, the government, sources said, is not planning to give complete access to the service provider. “The government has decided not to give access to the blacklist and the indexing system to the service provider,” a government official said and added that original documents will also be taken by a government employee sitting in each kendra. “The control of data lies with the government,” said a government official.

In the entire operation, it will be the government employees who continue to decide whether the passport needs post, pre or no verification. The service provider will key in data, take photographs at the kendra and take biometric information . Government officials point out that people provide almost the same data, except for biometric data, while applying for a bank account or getting a mobile phone connection. However, the software for the new system will also be developed and maintained by the private company for upto six years.

In a bid to safeguard against data being leaked, the government is also planning to create checks for the software that will be developed by the service provider.

The government security audit agency will go through the software before the system is operationalised and conduct yearly audits. There has been a lot of interest in this project particularly from the service sector.

After the government had floated the Request For Proposals, 45 companies were interested in the RPF and at the pre-bid meeting 120 officials from various companies had attended.

Eight companies gave bids and the committee has pre-qualified 6 companies. The company that clears the technical evaluation will have their financial bid scrutinised through a ‘transparent open bidding’.

THE WAIT ENDS

• TCS, Wipro, 3i Infotech, Spanco, Electronics Corporation of India and Bharat Electronic have been pre-qualified for it

• Government employees
will decide whether the passport needs post, pre or no verification

• The service provider will key in data, take photographs and biometric information

[maneesh]

I believe this will simply the process to a large extent as the most of the time goes in documentation and waiting.