This story is from February 27, 2019

Kolhapur: 30,000 passport applications cleared in 2018

The easy and simple process of police verification has resulted in clearing over 30,000 applications from Kolhapur district in 2018.
Kolhapur: 30,000 passport applications cleared in 2018
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KOLHAPUR: The easy and simple process of police verification has resulted in clearing over 30,000 applications from Kolhapur district in 2018. Last year, the number was 27,500, said a police officer attached with the passport office wing of Kolhapur police.
Kolhapur passport centre is among those centres started in the first phase by the central government.
"The rise in issuance of passports is due to easy and hassle-free services.
The need to go abroad for education, visiting relatives, treatment, tours has led to the increase in number of applications," the police officer said.
"With the recent directives from the passport office, our role has been limited in connection with police verification. Henceforth, we will only check the citizenship of the applicant and verify if they have any criminal record. Earlier, we used to verify their residential address and cross-check the proofs submitted by them and this used to increase the time for completing the procedure. Now, people get passport within 21 days of applying," he said.
The Kolhapur police department has cleared 83% of the total passport applications within 21 days. For 2019, they have set a target to clear 95% of the total applications.
The passport collection centre in Kolhapur was closed in May 2012. In March 2017, a separate passport seva kendra was started at the post office.
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