Chennai: As many as 2,500 passports will be issued from three Passport Seva Kendras in Chennai for 13 days from today.
British Deputy High Commissioner in Chennai, Bharat Joshi and Third Secretary Immigration Manager David Cooper inaugurated the 'Special Passport Mela' at Saligramam passport office. The mela will be held at Aminjikarai and Tambaram offices also.
Regional passport officer in Chennai, K Balamurugan, said, "This is the fourth mela happening this year. It is being held mainly due to the demand from the public."
"We have received around 30,000 applications and nearly 2,500 forms will be cleared each day during the mela," he added, and thanked his fellow counterparts who had made the mela possible.
Balamurugan said they will conduct another mela in the first week of June, depending on the demand from the public. "These melas help people to get passport easily. As it also functions on a holiday, it helps working people like me," said an applicant.
"The work is done quickly, if we have proper documents," said a youngster, who was present in Saligramam passport office. Passport officials have also created a new RTI cell called social audit cell to help the public. Saligramam Passport Kendra head L Gopinath was present during the mela.
