Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) Development of North-Eastern Region (DoNER), MoS PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, Dr Jitendra Singh today inaugurated Post Office Passport Seva Kendra (POPSK) at Head Post Office, Kathua.Speaking on the occasion, the Union Minister said the opening of this Passport Seva Kendra would help in pacing up the process of issuance of passports and their delivery. The facility would bring the service closer to people’s doorsteps, benefitting more than 12 lakh citizens living in Kathua and its two adjacent districts, besides reducing the waiting time for the applicants by considerable measure, he added.Dr Jitendra Singh complimented the people of Kathua for getting the facility and hoped that it would cut the delays caused in the delivery of passports and process applications from far flung areas.He asked the Passport office authorities to prioritize issuance of passports for students, pilgrims, infirm and other deserving people by speeding up the processes as the objective of opening these POPSK is to extend passport services on a larger scale and ensure wider area coverage.He further said that several development projects were initiated in Kathua to make it a model district.
The development projects by the Central Government are not limited only to urban areas but rural population is also getting its due share.MLA Kathua, Rajeev Jasrotia appreciated the efforts of Dr. Jitendra for making Kathua the nucleus of all the development activities in Doda-Udhampur Parliamentary segment. He also said that POPSK at Kathua will cut down the waiting period in the appointment cycle and speed up processing of applications and delivery of passports.Later, the Union Minister also inaugurated two-day long national conference on “Emerging Trends in Advanced Computing and IT” organized by Department of Computer Sciences and IT, Kathua Campus.Vice Chancellor University of Jammu, Prof. R.D Sharma, Rector Kathua Campus Prof. Naresh Padha, Regional Passport Officer, Jammu, N.K Shil, DC Kathua, Rohit Khajuria, SSP Kathua, Suleman Chowdhary and other district officers were present during the function.