Demand for Passport Seva Kendras in Vyara, Bharuch and Valsad

SURAT: A strong demand has been made by residents of Bharuch, Vyara and Valsad with Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) to provide Passport Seva Kendras (PSKs) in each of the towns to facilitate people applying for fresh passports from there.
Surat Metropolitan Region (SMR), a social group in south Gujarat, has written to Members of Parliament (MPs) of Surat and Navsari to raise the issue in Parliament and take it up with the MEA the need to provide additional PSKs in south Gujarat to facilitate thousands of residents seeking passports.
At present, residents from faraway places in Valsad and Tapi districts have to visit the lone PSK in Surat, whereas people of Bharuch have to travel to Ahmedabad. On an average, over 700 applicants are catered to by the PSK in Surat.
Regional Passport Office (RPO) in Surat is catering to passport applicants from Surat, Valsad, Dang, Surat and Tapi. Few months ago, Bharuch and Narmada were part of Surat RPO. But, gradually, they were shifted to Vadodara PSK and now the residents from Bharuch and Narmada have to travel to Ahmedabad PSK.
SMR member Vishwas Sawant told TOI, "The distance from Bharuch to Ahmedabad RPO is 190km, whereas Surat is just 70km away. Similarly, Valsad and Vyara both are 100km away from Surat. We request the MEA to consider allotting PSKs at Bharuch, Vyara and Valsad at the earliest. We have received many complaints from people in Bharuch, Vyara and Valsad because they are forced to travel long distance to get their passports."
Officials said RPO Surat received around 1,23,500 applications this year and 1,21,500 were granted. Due to clearance of old pending demands, there appear to be around 1,55,000 passport demand in south Gujarat this year.