JAMMU: Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER), MoS PMO, Dr Jitendra Singh on Saturday SAID that the State of Jammu and Kashmir must take maximum benefit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Transforming India mission.
India is on a journey of fast-track development under PM Modi and J and K should not allow itself to be left behind, he observed.
Speaking after inaugurating the Passport Mela at Auqaf Complex here this morning, Dr Jitendra said, it is a matter of satisfaction that within two years of taking over of the Modi government, the Passport Office at Jammu has been upgraded to the status of Regional Passport Office and a pleasant coincidence is that the first-ever Regional Passport Officer of Indian Foreign Service cadre posted at Jammu also happens to be a son of soil hailing from erstwhile Doda District.
With the Modi government’s thrust on rapid development and expansion of trade within country and outside, Dr Jitendra said, ease of travel will also be an essential prerequisite for the ease of business.
It is a matter of satisfaction, he said, that in the last one year itself, as many as over 35,000 passports were issued from the Jammu Passport Office.
However, Dr Singh suggested that the disposal time from putting in an application to the delivery of passport can be further shortened keeping in view the fact that while in some other parts of the country, the passport delivery now takes about a week to ten days, in a centre like Jammu, it still takes at least three weeks here because of the protracted and detailed procedure of verification and intelligence clearance. He hoped that with the upgradation of office and taking over by the new lot of young leadership, speed of passport delivery will also be enhanced.
Jitendra also suggested that the Regional Passport Office at Jammu should open extension counters for issuing passport at remote districts like Doda.
This will not only be an additional facility for the people living in those areas, but will also encourage the number of people applying for passports, he added.
Industry in Jammu, said Dr Jitendra, has often suffered from neglect and therefore, he advised the Passport Authorities to involve the trade industry leaders and representatives of civil society for wider awareness and participation.
Even though there is ‘Visa on Arrival’ facility available for more than 50 countries, the business community is yet to take full advantage of this, he added.
Earlier, Regional Passport Officer Vimarsh Aryan gave a detailed resume of the new initiatives taken by the Jammu Centre.