Passport Office advocates digital uploading of essential documents
Neeraj Bagga
Amritsar, February 7
The local passport office has asked applicants to take full benefit of the digital scheme by uploading essential documents from the DigiLocker at the time of filling application forms.
DigiLocker, a digital initiative of the Union Government, is integrated with Passport Seva Project (PSP). This enables citizens to submit various documents required for passport services through DigiLocker in a paperless mode. Applicants are therefore not required to carry the original documents by hand.
Paperless governance
DigiLocker provides citizens a shareable private space on a public cloud, enabling the availability of all documents and certificates. Targeted at paperless governance, DigiLocker is a platform for issuing and verifying of documents and certificates in a digital way, thus eliminating the use of physical documents. Nishith Kumar Shil, Passport Officer
Nishith Kumar Shil, Passport Officer, said DigiLocker provides citizens a shareable private space on a public cloud, enabling the availability of all documents and certificates. Targeted at paperless governance, DigiLocker is a platform for issuing and verifying of documents and certificates in a digital way, thus eliminating the use of physical documents.
As per the IT Act 2000, a digitally signed document is valid. As a citizen-centric measure, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) has got the Passport Seva Project (PSP) integrated with the DigiLocker platform for people’s help.
Only digital documents or digital certificates issued by government departments or agencies integrated with DigiLocker can be shared in self-declaration stage for issuing or reissuing fresh passports.
The applicant needs to click a button in self-declaration screen, fetch from the DigiLocker displayed, and share the selected document. If the applicant has a DigiLocker account, he or she can sign in with an OTP, give consent and click on ‘allow’ button. If the applicant clicks on ‘deny’ button, the document will not be shared from the DigiLocker.
About DigiLocker
DigiLocker, a digital initiative of the Union Government, is integrated with Passport Seva Project (PSP). This enables citizens to submit various documents required for passport services through DigiLocker in a paperless mode. Applicants are therefore not required to carry the original documents by hand.
