The Passport Offices have been traditionally associated with the Department of Posts for shipment of blank Passport booklets from India Security Press, Nashik. The Department of Posts is also involved in dispatch of printed passports to citizens. Recently, the Ministry of External Affairs has approached the Department of Posts for utilization of India Post network across the country for online filing of passport applications to address the challenge of digital divide. It was also decided to explore authorizing Post Masters of appropriate level to issue Verification Certificates for Tatkaal passport applicants within their areas of jurisdiction, in view of their local knowledge. So far as police verification by postmen is concerned, the idea has been explored but not found feasible as Post Offices do not have access to criminal data and citizenship status of passport applicants.
The Minister of State for the external Affairs Gen. Dr. V. K. Singh (Retd.) provided this information in reply to a question in Lok Sabha today.
