Telangana police secure top spot in passport verification

Telangana police have secured the top spot in completing passport verification process, taking just four to five days to conclude the exercise. The ranking has been given by the Ministry of External Affairs, a release from Telangana DGP office said today. External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj has invited Telangana DGP Anurag Sharma to Delhi tomorrow to receive the 'Certificate of Recognition' as the major feat of Telangana Police for revolutionising the process of verification of passport applications, it said. In the 'Passport Seva Diwas' function to be held in the national capital tomorrow, passport officers of 37 regions in the country and MEA officials will participate, the release added. After the bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh and with the goal to take the police administer closer to citizens and make it people-friendly, the Telangana police introduced a software application, VERIFAST, so that passports could be verified and facilitated within 5 days, it said. The new software application has revolutionised the entire process by way of giving intimation to applicants through SMS about visit of verification officers etc, the release said. "What used to take months has been reduced to just 4 to 5 days for issuing passport clearance. Telangana Police has successfully verified 3,93,356 applications during 2015-16 through 'VERIFAST' software," it added. Telangana Police had streamlined the special branch personnel engaged in verification process with special in house training and provided them around 1,500 i-pads for their use and directly intimating the sections concerned of passport offices without delay, the release said.