Source: The Sangai Express / Manipur Info Centre
New Delhi, October 04:
The India Postal Services is no longer what it was.
It is going through a period of profound change after taking initiatives by the Department of Posts.
The most recent initiative was the Speed Post Passport Servicea unique partnership between the Department of Posts and the Ministry of External Affairs for the convenience of passport applicants.
The Dept of Posts and the Ministry of External affairs jointly expanded the Speed Post Passport Service from the existing number of 220 to 1093 covering all the States of the Country on the last Wednesday.
In Manipur, five post offices at Imphal, Churachandpur, Lamphelpat, Thoubal and Ukhrul have the Speed Post Passport Service.
In Assam, the service is available at 34 post offices, nine in Tripura, 10 in Meghalaya, seven in Nagaland, four in Arunachal Pradesh, five in Mizoram and three in Sikkim.
In the next phase, the network will be expanded to cover 2000 post offices across the country.
Now the passport applicants have just to follow five simple steps to get the Passport.
There is no need to go to the Passport Office all the way.
Instead they can walk to the nearest Speed Post Office and experience the ease of getting a passport.
Number one step is to purchase the Passport Application Form from the Speed Post Office on payment of Rs.20/only.Step two is to fill the Passport Application Form.
Step three is to get Demand Draft for the amount payable to the Regional Passport Officer towards the Passport Fee.
Step four is to submit the Passport Application Form to the Speed Post Office along with the necessary documents.
The last step number five is nothing but to relax.
The Passport will reach to the applicant through speed post.
The applicant can know the status of their passport by calling the Teleenquiry number of the Regional Passport Office.
The applicants need to quote the key number allotted to them while making inquiries.
The Speed Post Passport Service essentially involves the sale of Passport application forms with envelope, the acceptance of Passport application forms from the customers on behalf of the Ministry of External Affairs, the checking the Application forms with reference to the Checking List, the dispatch of the Application form to the Regional Passport Office through Speed Post and the delivery of Passport through Speed Post Service.