Divulging the details,Regional Passport Officer Mr. Yash Pal today said that the decision has been taken by the Ministry of External Affairs to facilitate the people after the request for the same was made by the Jalandhar RPO. This would help in getting the PCC in a smooth and hassle free manner, said Mr Yash pal.

He also said that the Rgional Passport Office had been continuously making endeavours to provide better service to people and has recently send a detailed proposal to Ministry for enhancing this quota to benefit people desirous of moving abroad. Earlier the appointment quota was 135 slots per day but as the demand of PCC was surging with every passing day so the RPO flagged the issue with the MEA after which it was increased to 180. However again on the request of RPO the quota was recently upscaled to 270, then to 450 and finally it has been scaled up to 600 PCCs per day.

Reiterating his commitment to providing best of the passport related services, the RPO said that no stone was being left unturned to improve the services with every passing day. He said that applicants can check and book their passport and PCC appointment directly at www.passportindia.gov.in after applying and making payments online. Mr Yash Pal cautioned the people to stay away from middlemen as the Regional passport office has not authorized any such institution or middleman.

The Regional Passport officer said that every service was being provided in a clean and transparent manner. He said that people should refrain from falling prey to such tantrums of middlemen and should instead contact the passport office directly, which is always available to for service.Notably, there has been an unprecedented rise in the PCC appointments throughout the country and adequate arrangements have been put in place to meet this surging demand through a record increase in slots in comparison to the earlier capacity.