Parliament Question: PSK and POPSK in Katni

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF EXTERNAL AFFAIRS LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO - 2126 ANSWERED ON – 31/07/2026 PSK AND POPSK IN KATNI

2126. SHRI VISHNU DATT SHARMA

Will the Minister of EXTERNAL AFFAIRS be pleased to state:-

(a) whether the Government proposes/is considering to establish a Passport Seva Kendra (PSK) or Post Office Passport Seva Kendra

(POPSK) to improve access to passport services in Katni and adjoining districts, if so, the details thereof;

(b) the reasons for the non-establishment of a PSK or POPSK in Katni despite the increasing demand from students, businesspersons, professionals, workers and overseas employment aspirants;

(c) whether any time-bound plan has been formulated for establishing such a facility in Katni; and

(d) the interim measures proposed to reduce travel distance, wait- ing time and inconvenience faced by passport applicants from Katni and neighbouring districts? 1ANSWER THE MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF EXTERNAL AFFAIRS (SHRI KIRTI VARDHAN SINGH)

(a) to (d) Opening of Passport Offices (POs)/ Passport Seva Kendras

(PSKs)/ Post Office Passport Seva Kendras (POPSKs) is an on-going activity and depends upon various factors including scalability of the present PSK/POPSK, distance from existing POs/ PSKs/ POPSKs, increasing demand/ volume of passport applications from a particular region. The Ministry of External Affairs, in association with the Department of Posts (DoP), decided in January 2017 to open Seva Kendras at the Head Post Offices (HPO)/Post Offices (PO) in the country, called Post Office Passport Seva Kendras (POPSK) in order to expand passport services. Currently, 2 Passport Seva Kendras (PSKs) and 25 Post Office Passport Seva Kendras (POPSKs) are functional under Regional Passport Office(RPO) Bhopal in Madhya Pradesh to cater to the passport related services in the State.

Khajuraho Lok Sabha Constituency covers the entire Panna district and parts of Chhatarpur and Katni districts. POPSK Chhatarpur and POPSK Shahdol caters to the passport needs of the citizens of Katni city, where 2appointments are available on next working day. In addition to this, POPSK Jabalpur and POPSK Damoh are also operational in nearby districts of the Katni city to cater to the passport needs of the citizen of the region. Moreover, in June 2018, Ministry launched the ‘Apply anywhere in India’ scheme under which a passport can be applied at any PSK/POPSK in India. Also, MEA deploys Passport Mobile Van under respective RPOs, including RPOs in the State of Madhya Pradesh, for on- site passport processing in rural, tribal, remote and underserved areas.

Currently, there is no proposal under consideration of MEA for establish- ment of PSK or POPSK in Katni city of Madhya Pradesh. ***** 3