Pune: Residents of Chakan and Hadapsar may soon be spared the long commute to the Passport Seva Kendra (PSK) on Baner-Pashan Link Road. Regional passport officer (RPO) Vinod Gaikwad announced on Wednesday that a proposal has been sent to the Ministry of External Affairs to open post office passport seva kendras (POPSKs) in both areas.“There is a high demand for passports from people living in these areas, likely because these are industrial clusters. To help residents shorten their commute for appointments, we have submitted a proposal to the ministry requesting the establishment of a POPSK in these locations. Under the MoU between the Ministry of External Affairs and the Department of Posts, post offices are utilized as POPSKs to make passport-related services more accessible to citizens. This will also help reduce the workload at existing PSKs, which will, in turn, reduce appointment wait times.”Speaking on the occasion of Passport Seva Divas, Gaikwad said the Baner-Pashan PSK handles nearly 1,430 appointments daily. “Around 250 people arrive each day with incomplete documentation. Instead of rejecting them, we create a file and allow them to return once their paperwork is in order,” he noted.However, the RPO expressed concern over a 5–10% absenteeism rate. “I appeal to citizens to avoid skipping appointments. Absenteeism not only blocks a slot for another deserving candidate but also wastes the valuable time of our staff,” Gaikwad said. For those in urgent need, he suggested using the Tatkal scheme, emailing the RPO for emergencies, or checking for available slots in other districts under the Pune RPO’s jurisdiction.Shruti Pandey, Deputy Passport Officer, provided updates on the ‘Passport Seva Programme 2.0,’ which focuses on upgraded digital infrastructure and biometric chip-enabled passports. She revealed that between January and May this year, the Pune regional office issued 2.17 lakh passports. Only 2% of applications remained undelivered, primarily due to absenteeism or persistent documentation issues.The Pune RPO currently serves 12 districts, including Pune, Ahilyanagar, Beed, Jalna, Latur, Nanded, Dharashiv, Parbhani, Sangli, Satara, Kolhapur, and Solapur.
