AP: Passport services in 1,600 village/ward secretariats soon

Amaravati, May 2: The Andhra Pradesh government has started passport services in select village/ward secretariats on pilot basis. So far, 98 persons have secured passports through them. According to officials, 1,600 village/ward secretariats will provide passport services across the state very soon.
 
The AP government has obtained required permission from the Central government to issue passports for citizens from village/ward secretariats. Currently, 540 services related to state government’s Revenue, electricity Panchayat Raj, Agriculture, Municipal Administration and Urban Development and Civil Supplies and Fisheries departments are being provided by village/ward secretariats to the people. 
 
Now, a few Central services like issuing passport, pan card and railway ticket reservations are being offered by village/ward secretariats. At present, there are 15,004 village/ward secretariats in the state and training is imparted to one employee from each village and ward secretariat in providing Central services to citizens. “Employees working in village/ward secretariats are creating awareness ‘citizen outreach’ among people on additional services through volunteers for two days in a month.”