Department of Information and Public Relations

Press Release No. 471/14

PASSPORT SEVA KENDRA INAUGURATED

Shillong, November, 14, 2014: Meghalaya Chief Minister, Dr. Mukul Sangma inaugurated the Passport Seva Kendra (PSK), Shillong at Lower Lachumiere today in the presence of the Deputy Chief Minister in-charge Home (Passport), Shri Rowell Lyngdoh, former Chief Minister and Chief Adviser to the Government of Meghalaya, Dr. D. D. Lapang State Home Minister, Smti Roshan Warjri, State IPR Minister, Shri A. L. Hek and officials from the Union Ministry of External Affairs, besides other dignitaries. Member of Parliament, Shillong Constituency, Mr Vincent Pala and Rajya Sabha Member Mrs Wansuk Syiem was also present at the function.

The much awaited passport office was set up to facilitate easy access to passport services for the people of the State and surrounding districts of Assam so as to save the time consuming process of going all the way to Guwahati for getting their passports issued. The PSK Shillong is integrated with the other 77 PSKs in the country set up and operationalised under Passport Seva Project (PSP)-a high impact citizen-centric e-governance initiative as part of National e-Governance Plan. More than two crore passport service applications have been processed so far under the new system which is fully online. An impressive function was organized by the Union Ministry of External Affairs, CPC Division, at State Convention Centre thereafter where the Chief Guest Dr. Mukul Sangma unveiled the plaque to mark the momentous occasion.

Dedicating the Kendra to the people of the State, the Chief Minister in his address, expressed his gratitude to the Union Government for responding to the needs of the people of the State, adding that the opening of the Kendra was all the more significant as it coincided with the 125th birth anniversary of Late Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, the first Prime Minister of India and a great visionary leader.

Looking at the geo-political and other perspectives, there is a need for the North east region to forge closer ties with South East Asian countries, he said, but at the same time he highlighted on the bottleneck issues including the remoteness of the region, lack of infrastructure and connectivity. If these issues are resolved jointly with the neighbouring countries, North East would undoubtedly contribute to the growth of the nation, he added. He also underlined the potentialities of external trade with South East Asian countries and informed the gathering that opening of four more Border Haats in the State was under consideration by the Central Government and also about the proposal for inland waterways as there are a number of navigable rivers and requested the Union Ministry to look into these proposals.

Earlier, the Joint Secretary, Passport Seva Project (PSP) and Chief Passport Officer Shri Muktesh K. Pardeshi read out the message of the Union Minister of External Affairs, Smti Sushma Swaraj, thanking the people of Meghalaya for their strong support and coordination in setting up the PSK in the State and hoped that opening of the Kendra would help minimize time and expenditure of the people in getting their passports issued. He also informed that more Passport Kendras would be set up across the Northeast.