MP Pratap Simha’s effort pays off

Centre to be inaugurated on Jan. 25

Mysuru :

Good news for Mysureans and residents of surrounding districts. Thanks to Mysuru-Kodagu MP Pratap Simha, the long pending demand for a Passport Seva Kendra will be fulfilled on the eve of 67th Republic Day.

Addressing presspersons at Pathrakarthara Bhavan here this morning, MP Pratap Simha said that External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj had sanctioned a Passport Seva Centre to Mysuru as a pilot project along with Bharuch in Gujarat. He added that the Union Government has decided to re-launch the existing Passport Seva Kendra as Passport Seva Centre.

The Mysuru Centre will be inaugurated on Jan. 25 by Union Minister Ananth Kumar at the Metagalli Post Office building on KRS Road at 11 am.

“Ananth Kumar has been instrumental in getting the Passport Centre to Mysuru. Without his help it would have been difficult to get the facility to our city,” said the Mysuru-Kodagu MP.

Till now people living in Mysuru, Mandya, Chamarajanagar, Kodagu and Hassan districts were facing a daunting task of travelling all the way to Bengaluru and stand in long queues at the Passport Seva Kendra. Now, since the Centre will be opened in Mysuru the process of getting a Passport will be much easier.

Initially, the Passport Centre in Mysuru will offer its services to Mysuru and Chamarajanagar people for a few weeks to ensure the system works efficiently before expanding it to surrounding districts. “It was a challenge for me to get the Centre to Mysuru as Passport Kendras already existed in Mangaluru, Hubli-Dharwad and Bengaluru. Finally, all my efforts has paid-off as the Centre has been sanctioned to Mysuru,” the MP added.

It may be recalled, Mysuru had hosted around four Passports Seva Camps at the Zilla Panchayat office premises. But once the camp dates were announced the appointments were being blocked by travel agencies in the city causing hardship for the general public to get their applications processed.

The opening of the Passport Seva Centre will help the people seeking regular Passport or Tatkal Passport.

During the passport seva camps, only 400 applications were being processed and people used to visit the MP’s office with several complaints.

Initially, it was planned to open the Passport Seva Centre at the Head Post Office located in Nehru Circle. Since the building is old and lacks sufficient space, it was decided to set up the Centre at Metagalli Post Office building. The Seva Centre will be set up on a 800 sq ft space with one entry and exit points. The Centre will be provided with basic infrastructure to ensure smooth functioning.

The Centre in Mysuru will carry out works related to verification and granting of Passport while the printing and dispatch of Passport will be taken up the Regional Passport Office (RPO) in Bengaluru.

“The works on setting up of the Centre has been going on for the past four days. It will function with help of the staff from the Postal Department who will be trained for a period of three months by the RPO while they will also execute the works related to issuance of Passports and other services offered by the Seva Centre. This will also help in the revival of the Postal Department,” said the MP.

Former MUDA Chairman L. Nagendra, Corporator Nandeesh Preetham, BJP leaders M. Rajendra and H.V. Rajeev were present at the press meet.

Later, MP Pratap Simha, accompanied by RPO officials, inspected the Passport Seva Centre at Metagalli Post-Office building.

source: http://www.starofmysore.com / Star of Mysore / Home> General News / January 23rd, 2017