Passport melas to cater to high demand for passport in south Gujarat

SURAT: In order to cater to the rising demand for passport services in south Gujarat, the Regional Passport Office (RPO) has decided to organise 'passport mela' to ease the rush in submission of passport applications at the passport seva kendra (PSK) on August 9.
Passport officer Kumar Nityanand told TOI, "There is a rise in the demand for passport services in south Gujarat and the applicants are not getting timely appointments due to heavy rush.The passport mela will allow around 500 applicants with eligible cases and complete documentations to get appointments for the speedy issuance of their passport."
Nityanand added, "The applicants are required to apply online on the passport India portal or taking appointments for the proposed mela. They should come with the printout of their application reference number (ARN) along with appointment sheet and other relevant documents for the speedy clearance."
According to Nityanand, those applications that do not qualify to be covered under ?Tatkal', such as those travelled on EC (Emergency Certificate), change in name or other personal particulars, adoption cases of minors, divorce cases, reissue against lost and damaged passport, ECR deletion, etc, will not be processed in passport mela.
The applicants are accordingly required to check their documents before making an appointment for the Mela. Applicants under the 'Walk-in' category, PCC and Tatkal cases, pending cases and applicants without appointment will also not be allowed. The appointments shall be opened from August 4 at 1 pm.
The Surat RPO caters to the passport needs of the people residing in Bardoli, Surat, Bharuch, Dang, Narmada, Navsari, Surat (Rural), Tapi and Valsad. Each day, the PSK handles around 800 passport applications.
Sources said that there is a long delay in the appointment schedule for passport approval. The average applicants in the region have to wait for more than a month to get the appointment dates scheduled for their passport approval.
"The shortage of passport booklets still persist at the RPO. However, alternate arrangements have been made to get the passport booklets from other RPOs in western region," said an officer.