Express News Service
NEW DELHI: In its bid towards improving the efficacy of the Passport delivery system the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) on Friday signed an agreement for second phase of the Passport Seva Programme (PSP-V2.0).
MEA signed the agreement with Tata Consultancy Services Limited appointing them as the Service Provider for the project.
MEA in its statement said, “The key elements of PSP-V 2.0 are setting up of a state-of-art digital ecosystem, process overhauling and integration among various stakeholders and database, improving citizen interface, upgrading technology, adopting best practices and strengthening data security.”
As per the Ministry, the security aspects, including strategic assets such as Data Centres, Database and the Application Software will be owned by the Government and there would be strict access controls across the system, incorporating biometrics.
The PSP-V2.0 is a continuation and enhancement of PSP-V1.0, an e-Governance instrument, led to transformations in delivery of passport related services to citizens.
The focus was on timely, transparent, more accessible and reliable platform, accessed by citizens in a comfortable environment through streamlined processes; and a committed, trained and motivated workforce.
The project design ensured that support functions like citizen interface, technology backbone, call centres, training and change management etc. were provided by the Service Provider, and the Government continued to exercise all sovereign and security related functions in the passport issuance process.
The number of public dealing offices has increased across the country. Ministry is working towards opening of a Seva Kendra in every Lok Sabha Constituency where there is no Passport Seva Kendra (PSK) or Post Office Passport Seva Kendra (POPSK). As on date 93 PSKs, 428 POPSKs and 36 Passport Offices are operational.
The Programme has recently been connected to more than 176 Indian Missions / Posts through Global Passport Seva Programme (GPSP), providing seamless delivery of passport services to Indian diaspora.
Recognizing the need to continually improve the quality of Government to Citizen (G2C) services and the mantra of Good Governance via IT and digital media, the Passport Seva Programme would be embarking on technology upgrade with the use of Biometrics, Artificial Intelligence, Advance Data Analytics, Chat-Bot, Auto-response, Natural Language Processing, Cloud Enablement.
The issuance of e-Passports for enhanced customer satisfaction, increased security and next level of citizen experience will also be unveiled in the upgraded PSP-V 2.0.
The Passport Seva Programme is a citizen centric e-Governance platform.
