Passport centre ready by Puja: Deb

TT, Siliguri, July 12: The passport seva kendra that north Bengal residents have been waiting for, so that they can avoid a journey to Calcutta, is likely to be ready ahead of Durga Puja.

Gautam Deb, the north Bengal development minister who is also the chairman of the Siliguri Jalpaiguri Development Authority, said: "If things go right, we expect the necessary work to be completed in a couple of months. We hope that the PSK would be functional before Durga Puja this year."

Deb said: "The ministry of external affairs had asked the state government last year for land or a building for opening the passport seva kendra in Siliguri.... We in turn mentioned a building owned by the SJDA at Himachal Vihar. The central government was provided with the details about the building and the site. On June 15, they approved the building."

A Passport Application and Collection Centre (PACC) was opened in Siliguri in 2000. It continued to function till April 1, 2013. People from Siliguri had to travel to either the passport seva kendra (PSK) in Behrampore, around 370km away, or Calcutta to apply for passports.

"Unlike the PACC, the PSK will function in a better and elaborate manner. People from here need not go to Calcutta for their passports. As far as we know, the PSK will receive applications, conduct tasks like clicking photos and do the biometric work, verification of documents, initiate police verification and also approve the passport in the systems portal of the ministry of external affairs," Deb said.

"The passports recommended from this office would be generated and delivered from the regional office. The PSK would resolve a genuine problem faced by north Bengal residents and also for people dwelling in the adjoining areas of Bihar and Assam," he added.

A portion of a two-storey building has been given to the ministry of external affairs for opening the Passport Seva Kendra here. The building was built to open a market complex inside Himachal Vihar but many portions of it are still unsold and with the SJDA.

"A portion of the building, measuring 4,327 sqft, would be provided to the external affairs ministry against a monthly rent of Rs 72,322. A lease deed would be signed between the MEA and SJDA," Deb said.