DINDIGUL
People of Dindigul district need not travel to Madurai or Tiruchi to apply for passport as the city will have a Post Office Passport Seva Kendra (POPSK) before March end, according to sources in the Department of Posts.
The department had expedited the preliminary work in this regard. Led by Senior Superintendent of Posts K. Ramalingam, a special team of officials inspected two places – one in the Collectorate building and another on the Combined District Court Complex campus – on Monday.
The team members had discussions with Collector T.G. Vinay for allocation of a suitable place in the main building of the Collectorate to set up the POPSK. The Collector assured them of sufficient space for the POPSK. The possibility of setting up the POPSK in the Collectorate building was bright, the sources said.
Applicants could get appointments for passport applications at the centre itself. With a sharp increase in the number of higher educational institutions and business activities in the district, a sizeable number of applications received in Madurai were from Dindigul district, the officials added.
The main objective of opening the POPSKs was to extend passport-related services on a larger scale and cover wider areas by utilising post offices.
The Ministry of External Affairs and the Department of Posts had decided to utilise head post offices or post offices as the POPSKs for delivery of passport-related services. External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj would be invited to inaugurate the centre in Dindigul, they said.
The existing branch post office functioning in the Collectorate building would be shifted to District Combined Court Complex soon.
The officials said the Ministry had planned to establish the POPSKs in 11 places in the State – Cuddalore, Dindigul, Namakkal, Perambalur, Pudukkottai, Ramanathapuram, Sivaganga, Tiruppur, Villupuram, Virudhunagar and Kanniyakumari in 2017.
