New Delhi: Shillong will soon have a full-fledged passport office but Tura has to wait for some more time, said External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid.
“The Centre is working on setting up of Passport Seva Laghu Kendras (PSLKs) at various locations in the country including Shillong, with a view to extend the passport issuance network,” Khurshid said in reply to a letter by Rajya Sabha member Wansuk Syiem.
Wansuk in her letter had urged the External Affairs Ministry to immediately open passport offices in Shillong and Tura to ease the burden of hundreds of passport applicants from the Hill State.
The Ministry will move the Union Cabinet to take a decision in a holistic manner to set up one PSLK at Tura and other towns of the country, he added.
The Ministry has already sanctioned Rs 30 lakh to the state PWD to carry out the civil and electrical works for setting up the PSLK at the old office of the Directorate of Sports in Shillong, Khurshid said in his letter.
The passport office will initially serve as a Seva Kendra (help desk) where people can submit all their documents in Shillong but the papers will still have to be sent to the Regional Passport Office at Guwahati. This is the first step, following which Shillong will have a full-fledged passport office.
