Details of State-wise Passport Seva Kendras

LOK SABHA 

PASSPORT SEVA KENDRAS

2282. SHRIMATI KIRRON KHER
          SHRI MOHANBHAI KALYANJI KUNDARIYA
          SHRI SANJAY SETH

Will the Minister of EXTERNAL AFFAIRS be pleased to state:

(a) the details of Passport Seva Kendras operational in the country, State-wise including Punjab and Chandigarh;

(b) the total number of passports issued in the country during the last three years along with the number of people who travelled to foreign countries during the said, State-wise including Jharkhand;

(c) whether the Government is considering a proposal to issue chip based e- passports and Passport Seva Programme, V2.0 in place of paper passports within the country and if so, the details thereof along with the steps taken by the Government to ensure the data collected for e- passports are encrypted for privacy and is secure and safe; and

(d) the time by which these e-passports are likely to be introduced?

[SHRI V. MURALEEDHARAN]

(a) The details of State-wise Passport Seva Kendras operational in the country is placed at Annexure-I.

(b) The total number of Passports issued in the country during the last three years is 2,92,93,011. As per data provided by Bureau of Immigration (BoI), the number of people who travelled from India including Jharkhand to foreign countries during the said period is 5,06,86,763.

(c) & (d) The Government is planning to issue e-Passports to its citizens, with advanced security features. An e-Passport is the same as the current Machine Readable Passport (MRP), with the addition of an electronic chip, which contains the same information that is printed on the passport’s data page, i.e. the holder’s name, date of birth, photograph, etc.

The personal particulars of the applicants would be digitally signed and stored in the chip. The data of the citizens for e-Passport would be used for the specific purpose only, i.e. issuance of the passport and related services. There is no secondary use of the data, thereby safeguarding the privacy concerns. Further transaction processes are authenticated by digital certificates and are cryptographically signed. Once captured, the data is stored in a secure repository, i.e. industry standard database. Relevant database security related controls are performed round the clock by Security Operations Centre. Sample e-Passports have been tested and the full-scale manufacture and issue will commence with the completion of the technical eco-system and infrastructure. The said facility would be made available in phases at all Passport Offices across India.

Annexure

STATE-WISE LIST OF PASSPORT SEVA KENDRAS (PSKs)