Passport Patrika | May 2010

May 2010

HIGHLIGHTS:

Trial processing of

DPC Applications suc-

cessfully initiated at

Bangalore PSK-1

External Communica-

tion activities planned

Chandigarh gearing up

for Go-Live

MINISTRY OF EXTERNAL AFFAIRS

Passport Patrika

Chairman Shri. A.Manickam, JS (CPV) & CPO Editor-in Chief Dr. T. V. Nagendra Prasad, Director (PV) & Project Director (PSP)

The Editorial Team

Pg 5

Curtain Raiser at PSK Bangalore

External Affairs Minister,

Shri S.M. Krishna at PSK Bangalore

2

From Project Director’s Desk

Dr.T.V.Nagendra Prasad


Dear Colleagues,

The months of March and April coincide with the traditional new year in many parts of the country (Vishu,

Bihu, Baisakhi, Navroz etc) and brings with it glad tidings. These months have been quite eventful for the

Passport Seva Project as well. Thanks to the efforts of one and all connected to Passport Seva Project.

We had three important events during this period. First, we had the conference of all the RPOs/POs at Ban-

galore wherein all of them were briefed about the Project and the basic design of the PSK. This was fol-

lowed by a visit of Hon‟ble EAM Shri.S.M.Krishna, to PSKs in Bangalore for a curtain raiser event. Lastly

and perhaps most importantly, the Passport Seva Project went live on trial basis. From March 19th to March

31st , over 300 passports were printed and dispatched through the new system. Automatic SMS alerts were

generated by the system and sent to the applicants. The new Index-PAC system was rigorously tested and

results of the new Index PAC system were compared against the results generated with the existing system.

The new system was found to be working satisfactorily.

We believe in treading cautiously. Hence the new system is being tested only on DPC applications. Valu-

able feedback from our staff on the new system is being constantly gathered and incorporated into the soft-

ware. We are conscious that we have a long way to go, but with your encouragement and support we are

making steady progress.

We would be grossly failing in our duty if we do not place on record the tremendous contribution of the

RPO and all officers and staff at Bangalore. The staff besides taking care of the increasing workload of

passport seekers, are also operating on the new system. For this they are devoting extra time on weekends

and beyond the office hours without allowing the pendency to creep up. This is over and above taking care

of the steady stream of visitors from Delhi who have all kinds of onerous project related demands. Hats off,

to the RPO and Staff of Bangalore for this inspirational performance. With such an enthusiastic support and

participation the pilot is expected to be launched very soon. Once again, I request all RPO/POs to contrib-

ute articles/experiences/events or incidents at passport office by email to me so that we can use them to en-

rich the Passport Patrika.

We wish you and your families a great season ahead.

3


Contents

Project Updates…The story so far 04

Status of the Projects progress

Events

Curtain Raiser at Bangalore 05

RPO Conclave at Bangalore 07

DPC Application Processing at Bangalore 07

Excerpts from statement of External Affairs Minister 08

Efficiency Enhancing Initiative 08

Training Experience 09

Welcome 09

Bidding Farewell 10

Technology Trends 12

National e-Governance Plan 13

Worldwide Information 14

Health Corner 14

Fun Corner 15

Snapshots 16

4


Major milestones achieved during the journey towards the pilot go-live of the Passport Seva Project

Project Milestones – Pilot

Project Updates...The Story so far

Milestones Achieved

Milestones - Work in Progress

Milestones to be Achieved

TRAINING

Software/Application Training conducted successfully for the Chandigarh Passport Office employ-

ees

SECURITY

Login User id‟s created for all Passport Office employees at pilot locations

Digital Signatures created for Bangalore Passport Office employees

COMMUNICATION

Print Advertorials created for the citizens to launch the Passport Seva Kendra and the new process

Radio Advertisement created for communication to the citizens

5


Curtain Raiser at Bangalore

The Curtain Raiser event took place on 6th March 2010.It was

the most awaited day when MEA successfully showcased the

Bangalore Passport Seva Kendras and the new Passport Issu-

ance process to the Hon‟ble External Affairs Minister Shri.

S.M. Krishna along with other senior dignitaries from the

MEA including the Additional Secretary (AD & CPV), Shri.

Ashok Tomar. The day started with the External Affairs Min-

ister (EAM) visiting the Sai Arcade Passport Seva Kendra

where he was warmly welcomed the Passport Seva team in-

cluding the RPO Bangalore, officers and staff.

A quick walkthrough of the PSK was organized by the staff to

guide them through the facility and the various operational

zones. A huge local and national media contingent closely

covered every aspect of the visit. The panel then headed for

the PSK Lal Bagh, Bangalore where Shri S.M.Krishna ad-

dressed the Media and the RPO Officials articulating the need

for the reform concerning the Indian Passport Issuance proc-

ess which led to the conception of the prestigious Passport

Seva Project.

He emphasized on the growing profile of India that has led to

anticipation of a larger number of passport applications in the

near future. While the total number of applicants currently is

57 lakh it is expected to reach at least 75 lakhs by 2011 and

that such reforms were essential to provide better services to

the citizens.

He added that the structural reforms in the issuance of pass-

ports would make the process streamlined, uniform, secure,

easy and transparent for citizens, along with applicant friendly

offices. He said that PSP is the flagship project of the Ministry

and everyone is involved in the project

Shri S.M.Krishna at the Token Counter at PSK

Joint Secretary, Additional Secretary, Project

Director & RPO Bangalore greeting EAM

EAM at the Online Kiosk at PSK

Citizen Service Executives at the PSK

6


Curtain Raiser at Bangalore Continued...

He mentioned that there would be 77 PSKs across India which

will be fully geared up to meet all kinds of requirement in due

course of time with the sturdy backup of a Data Centre in

Delhi, a Network Operations Centre in Delhi and a Disaster

Recovery Center in Chennai.

He confirmed that in Karnataka, there will be 2 PSKs in Ban-

galore, one each in Hubli and Mangalore which would be

connected real time to the central server and would take care

of the passport requirements of that particular region. Gul-

barga will have a mini PSK which would work exactly as a

PSK. Citizens can take appointments by dialing the national

call center and avail information on the status of the applica-

tion. In order to expedite the entire issuance process the Pass-

port Seva Portal would also be linked to the police headquar-

ters.

Shri S.M.Krishna declared that the pilot location PSKs would

be launched soon as the trial runs have provided the good feed-

back. After successful run of the pilot centers for 3 months, the

rest of the PSKs across the country will be open to public in a

span of 8-10 months. This high profile event was successful

with the efforts of RPO Bangalore under the leadership of Shri

Ravindra and the Media team of TCS.

EAM’s Press Conference

EAM at the PSK Counter

Eternal Affairs Minister addressing the Media

at the Press Conference at PSK

7

DPC Application Processing at Bangalore


RPO Conclave at Bangalore

Most RPOs from across the country assembled at Lal Bagh PSK,

Bangalore to have the first hand exposure to the whole process and

the software application. The programme was spearheaded by JS-

CPV Shri. A Manickam. The main aim was to exhibit the PSK func-

tionalities, layout and its operations to the RPOs and seek their feed-

back. Project Director, Dr. T.V.Nagendra Prasad along with

Mr.Rajan Pillai addressed the RPOs. In their briefing, they spoke

about various benefits of the Passport Seva Project along with the

role of TCS and the advantages of Public–Private Partnership

model. The RPOs were taken through a complete cycle of Applica-

tion Processing starting from the filling up of the Application form. A new Passport Application Form was

provided to each RPO for filling in the details which were then taken through the various stages of the Pre-

processing and processing. The entire procedure was demonstrated by first taking the RPOs to the Token

Issuance Counter where tokens were issued on First come first serve basis. Queries of passport officers dur-

ing their walkthrough inside the PSK were clarified. Once the respective tokens were displayed at the LCD

monitor, the RPOs were requested to enter the processing zone to their respective counter for application

processing.

The applications were processed quickly at the CSE counter and the applicants (RPOs) were then escorted

to the waiting lounge near the VO counter. After successful completion of the VO tasks, the RPOs moved

towards the GO counter. The RPOs were satisfied to see the PSK, Lal Bagh. They appreciated the modern

facility and infrastructure constructed for the citizens. The event concluded on a very positive note.

In order to ensure smooth functioning of the Passport Seva system, it was decided to process only DPC ap-

plications initially. Trial run in the Passport Seva system for applications received through DPCs was initi-

ated successfully after the curtain raiser event and visit at the PSK by Shri S.M.Krishna, External Affairs

Minister. Over 2000 forms received from DPCs were sent to PSK for data entry into the Passport Seva sys-

tem. The processed digitized applications were sent to the Verifying Officer at Passport Office for verifica-

tion which were then reviewed by the Granting Officer who took the decision to grant the passport after

perusing the Index and PAC check status through the system and the police verification report. It was also

demonstrated that the Index/PAC results seen by the Granting Officer were frozen in the system.

The new system has the facility to raise objections on the files with missing documents, incomplete infor-

mation etc. These objections may be raised by the Verifying Officer/Granting Officer. In all such cases, an

objection letter is generated and sent to the citizen stating the reason and the corrective action required to be

taken. The Passport Office employees are finding the new system easy to use. They have suggested few

improvements to enhance the usability and efficiency of the system. More than 800 passports have been

printed and dispatched thus far through the system while the others are at different stages of processing.

Shri Sekhar, Ms Amarjothi, Shri Sreekumar, Shri Nagendra Babu, Shri P.K.Behera, Shri Sreenivasaiah,

Shri Hemachandra were found to be „power users‟ of the system during the trial run.

RPOs from several locations at PSK

8


Excerpts from the statement of External Affairs Minister

Excerpts from the statement of Shri S.M.Krishna in Lok Sabha during the discussion and vot-

ing on “Demands for Grants” for the year 2010-11

“Despite extensive computerization, opening of new passport offices, a need was felt for change in the ex-

isting system due to rapidly growing volumes of passport seekers. For instance, between 1999 and 2009,

the number of passport seekers more than doubled and this number is expected to grow at an average rate of

10% every year. In order to address this challenge MEA has launched the Passport Seva Project (PSP).

The project envisages the creation of 77 Passport Seva Kendras (PSKs) across the country, the creation of

call centre operating 24 x 7 in 17 languages, and a centralized nationwide computerized system for issuance

of passports.

The project is almost complete with establishment of Data Centre, Disaster Recovery Centre, Central Pass-

port Printing Facility, Network Operations Centre, Passport Seva Kendras at 7 pilot locations (Bengaluru-1,

Bengaluru-2, Mangalore, Hubli, Chandigarh, Ambala and Ludhiana).

After 5 cycles of testing of the application software was conducted by the third party Audit Agency (STQC)

in Bengaluru, it was found that the software was suitable to go for trial run. On March 19, 2010, the appli-

cations received from District Passport Cells were processed in real environment under the PSP software

for the first time. Since then, about 1000 passports have been issued under the new system. On April 16,

2010, on trial basis, processing of applications live at PSK-1 in Bengaluru has also begun. After conducting

trials in live environment, it is proposed to open all the 7 PSKs for public. After successful pilot phase and

its certification the project is scheduled to be rolled out at the remaining 70 PSKs throughout the country.”

Passport Officer, Coimbatore Shri.Balamurgan has recently got on line access to the database of ration

cards and voter identity cards from the concerned authorities under his jurisdiction. We have been informed

that his office has been checking/verifying the data from these databases successfully and using the same

for issuance of tatkaal passports.

We appreciate this innovative initiative and compliment the PO, officers and the staff at PO, Coimbatore.

Efficiency Enhancing Initiative

9


Training Experience of the Trainers

Welcome - Retired CPO Officials who joined TCS

The prime objective of Change Management Team has always been to create and maintain a continuous

contributing learning environment for CPO employees, police officials and recruits of Passport Seva

Kendras (PSKs) , CPPF and Call Centre, as they experience the transformation brought about by the Pass-

port Seva Project. With the new Passport Seva system partially operational in Bangalore, the Change Man-

agement team from TCS has come a long way in successfully achieving this objective. It has been an en-

riching experience for the team to interact with different stakeholders.

Understanding the needs of the end users was the foremost task at the team‟s hand. Addressing a diverse

group of audience required meticulous planning and coordination. However, it would not have been possi-

ble to deliver such a broad based training without the constant support and cooperation of the participants.

Despite their daily workload, they gladly spared time to participate in the training programmes. The enthu-

siasm and the eagerness to learn the new system was commendable. They were very receptive towards the

sessions and gave suggestions that could be incorporated in the PSP Application to make it more simple,

user friendly and efficient. Most of them appreciated the efforts put-in by the team. This served as a great

reason for us to smile and carry back good memories of the training experience.

The PSP training provided an opportunity to plan and deliver training in different domains like basic com-

puter skills, soft skills and PSP application. The hands-on involvement with the participants added to the

learning of the training team and encouraged them to reach the level of perfection. All the training feedback

has shown a high satisfaction level among the participants.

Shri Dhirendranath Das joined CPO in the year 1977 at RPO Delhi. Throughout

his carrier he had been posted at various RPOs. He has served as the head of

PACC, Berhampore and retired from RPO Kolkata in June 2008. He joined TCS

for the Passport Seva Project in December 2009.

Shri Ramanand Sarkar joined Deputy High Commission of India, Dhaka in

March 1964, after which he joined RPO Delhi in August 1968. Throughout

his carrier he has served in various capacities at various RPOs. He retired as

APO from RPO Delhi in November 2004 and joined TCS for the Passport

Seva Project in December 2009.

10


Bidding Farewell

List of CPO Officers who bid adieu to CPO (April ‘09– March ‘10)

S.No. Name Post Date of Retirement Station

1. Shri M L Rawat, Supdt. 31.03.2009 Lucknow

2. Shri G D Joshi Asstt. 31.03.2009 Delhi

3. Shri Harjinder Singh Peon 02.04.2009 Jalandhar

(Resigned)

4. Smt. Asha Bhatnagar Supdt. 30.04.2009 Ghaziabad

(VRS)

5. Smt. N J Mary Supdt. 30.04.2009 Cochin

6. Smt. Kamlesh Madan Supdt. 01.05.2009 Delhi

(VRS)

7. Shri S R Karnik APO 31.05.2009 Ahmedabad

8. Shri D T Limbachiya APO 31.05.2009 Ahmedabad

9. Smt Susan K Gibson Asstt. 31.05.2009 Hyderabad

10. Smt. Kalawati Devi UDC 31.05.2009 Lucknow

11. Shri Ch Lakshminarayana APO 30.05.2009 Hyderabad

12. Shri Mohinder Singh UDC 30.06.2009 Chandigarh

13. Smt Janaki Rajappan Supdt. 31.07.2009 Trichy

14. Shri P K Debnath R.Sorter 31.07.2009 Kolkata

15. Smt. N Lavanya Kumar Asstt. 31.07.2009 Chennai

(VRS)

16. Smt. N Kasthuri Asstt. 31.07.2009 Chennai

(VRS)

17. Smt. N P Geetha Asstt. 31.07.2009 Chennai

(VRS)

18. Shri V G Raghavan LDC 28.08.2009 Trichy

(Resigned)

19. Shri Samir Kumar LDC 7/2009 Bangalore

(Resigned)

20. Smt R P Jather DPO 31.08.2009 Mumbai

21. Shri R Chakraborty Asstt. 31.08.2009 Kolkata (E/I, Yangoon)

22. Shri Umesh Kumar LDC 30.06.2009 Srinagar

(Resigned)

23. Shri Sunil Manohar Barik LDC 11.9.2009 Vishakapatnam

(Resigned)

24. Smt. M R Dey Daftry 30.09.2009 Kolkata

25. Shri D Viswanadha Raju Peon 30.09.2009 Hyderabad

26. Shri Roop Chand Raiger UDC 01.10.2009 Jaipur

(Expired)

27. Shri S Y More Supdt. 31.08.2009 Bangalore

(VRS)

All good things must come to an end. We bid farewell to the under mentioned CPO staff who dedicated the

most valuable years of their lives to the Central Passport Organization. We would remain ever grateful for

their contribution.

11


Bidding Farewell

List of CPO Officers who bid adieu to CPO (April ‘09– March ‘10)

S.No. Name Post Date of Retirement Station

28. Smt. Ealiamma Julius Supdt. 31.10.2009 Cochin

29. Shri P V S Subba Rao Supdt. 30.09.2009 Hyderabad

(VRS)

30. Shri Sanjay Kumar UDC 30.11.2009 Kolkata

(Resigned)

31. Shri Rakesh Kumar Singh LDC 25.11.2009 Lucknow

(Expired)

32. Shri R A Dhone DPO 30.11.2009 Bhopal

33. Shri M Rajappan Supdt. 30.11.2009 Cochin

34. Shri A B Jadhav R. Sorter 11.2009 Pune

(Expired)

35. Smt. M.Viswani Devi Daftry 10.2009 Hyderabad

(Expired)

36. Shri B Toppo Supdt. 31.12.2009 Jalandhar

37. Shri Kali Charan Daftry 16.01.2010 Bareilly

(Expired)

38. Shri Bimal Roy Duggal Supdt. 22.01.2010 Chandigarh

(Expired)

39. Shri A Nagender Supdt. 27.01.2010 Hyderabad

(Expired)

40. Shri C G Mahale Asstt. 29.01.2010 Thane

(Expired)

41. Shri Babu Ram Arya DPO 31.01.2010 Lucknow

42. Shri Shailendra Prasad UDC 2009 Jaipur

(Resigned)

43. Shri D B Sardeshpande Supdt. 31.12.2009 Surat

(VRS)

44. Shri A Sheraffudin Asstt. 28.02.2010 Trivandrum

(VRS)

45. Shri T J Sebastian Supdt. 06.03.2010 Cochin

(Expired)

46. Smt. V P Chandrakantha Asstt. 01.02.2010 Chennai

(VRS)

47. Smt.B Padminidevi Amma Peon 28.02.2010 Trivandrum

48. Shri Y V Puranik APO 31.03.2010 Ahmedabad

12


Technology Trends – Passport Seva System

Understanding the Sovereign and Ownership issues of Passport Seva

System and its protection mechanism being deployed

In the last issue of PASSPORT PATRIKA, we brought out the use of DIGITAL CERTIFI-

CATE and the way users securely get into the Passport Seva System. Protecting the sover-

eignty and ownership of all critical assets including Data and Information has been given

utmost importance in the project.

The Passport Seva System is designed to ensure that Service Provider personnel and outside users get no

access to the BACK-END system and can only access the front end of the PSP Application. The non-

sovereign functions such as collection of Application form, Data capturing, Fingerprint Capturing, Photo-

graph capturing, Document scanning etc. are the various functions to which access to the Service Provider

personnel has been provided. Even to perform the non-sovereign functions, the Service Provider personnel

need to have DIGITAL CERTIFICATES and the tasks performed by any individual can be tracked down

and are auditable.

Coming back to the Architectural Design of the Passport Seva System, it has got various physical and logi-

cal separations. All these separations are successfully deployed in the DATA CENTERS located in Delhi &

Chennai. To have an independent testing and certification of the entire PSP system, a Government Agency

(3rd Party Auditor) under Ministry of Communications & IT has been engaged, who will not only certify the

PSP system but will also be involved in periodic Audits during the project operations over the years to fol-

low. The Data Centres are divided into various zones and are restricted based upon who is accessing what.

Major zones in the Data Centres are Internet Zone, Front-Office Zone, Back-End Zones, Management

Zones, Preproduction Zone, Training Zone and Production Zone. In each zone, the task performed is closely

monitored with automated audit & reporting tools deployed in the PSP system. The audit trails of each criti-

cal tasks being performed in the PSP Application System as well as PSP system as a whole, is preserved

tampered proof. The logs & audit trails are hardened, stored in CAS (Content Addressable Storage) and are

policy based. Even the administrator of the CAS has no rights to delete these audit trails.

Every critical task performed by various administrators of the PSP system is carried out with dual-key

mechanism and is controlled by MEA personnel deployed as part of the Technology team.

The entire PSP system has been designed, developed and deployed in the best possible manner with maxi-

mum security measures, both at system and at process level.

Golok Kumar Simli

Principal Consultant - Technology

[email protected]

mailto:[email protected]

13


National e-Governance Plan

The Government of India is keen to deploy India‟s globally acknowledged expertise in Information Tech-

nology for the welfare of its citizens. Government has to ensure efficient citizen service delivery in the face

of challenges like increase in population, rising service delivery expectations, difficulty in the existing sys-

tem to quickly increase the staff required or dynamically redeploy staff, rapidly mobilizing and deploying

monetary resources etc. In order to meet these challenges, the Government of India launched the ambitious

National e-Governance Plan also called NeGP. NeGP aims at spreading e-Governance down to the ground

level and cover the entire gamut of Government services. NeGP projects are classified as Mission Mode

Projects (MMPs). MMPs fall in three categories namely Central MMPs, State MMPs and Integrated MMPs.

“NeGP seeks to lay the foundation and provide the impetus for long-term growth of e-Governance within

the country. The plan seeks to create the right governance and institutional mechanisms, set up the core in-

frastructure and policies and implement a number of Mission Mode Projects at the center, state and inte-

grated service levels to create a citizen-centric and business-centric environment for governance”.

Passport Seva Project is part of the list of Central Mission Mode Projects under NeGP. Various central

MMPs like for instance Unique ID Project, Income Tax etc are already underway. Given below the Govern-

ment blueprint for e- Governance in the country. The outer ring represents State MMPs, the central ring

represents central MMPs and the innermost ring represents integrated MMPs.

S.Chandrasekhar,

Principal Consultant

Programme Management

14


Worldwide Information: Interesting Facts

Interpol’s database of stolen or missing passports contains details of 14 mil-

lion documents

In 2006 Marilyn Monroe’s 1954 passport sold for US$115,000

Citizens of countries that have signed up to the Schengen accord no longer

have to show their passports when they’re flying to another member country

In 2007, a backlog in passport processing led to the US temporarily lifting

the rule that Americans had to carry passports to Canada, Mexico, the Caribbean

and Bermuda

Nicaragua’s passports boast 89 separate security features

An Australian man who changed his name to John Piss was refused a passport

by officials due to his offensive surname

Health Corner

Follow these ten simple tips to avoid the problem of tired eyes, dark circles and head-

aches

15


Fun Corner

PUZZLE 1

A man is stranded on an island covered in forest.

One day, when the wind is blowing from the west, lightning strikes the west

end of the island and sets fire to the forest. The fire is very violent, burn-

ing everything in its path, and without intervention the fire will burn the whole island, killing

the man in the process.

There are cliffs around the island, so he cannot jump off.

How can the man survive the fire? (There are no buckets or any other means to put out the

fire)

PUZZLE 2

Cannibals ambush a safari in the jungle and capture three men. The cannibals give the men a

single chance to escape uneaten.

The captives are lined up in order of height, and are tied to stakes. The man in the rear can

see the backs of his two friends, the man in the middle can see the back the man in front,

and the man in front cannot see anyone. The cannibals show the men five hats. Three of the

hats are black and two of the hats are white.

Blindfolds are then placed over each man's eyes and a hat is placed on each man's head. The

two hats left over are hidden. The blindfolds are then removed and it is said to the men

that if one of them can guess what color hat he is wearing they can all leave unharmed.

The man in the rear who can see both of his friends' hats but not his own says, "I don't

know". The middle man who can see the hat of the man in front, but not his own says, "I

don't know". The front man who cannot see ANYBODY'S hat says "I know!"

How did he know the color of his hat and what color was it?

Turn to Page 16 for Solution

16


Snapshots

Stay Connected

Send your contributions and feedback to us to improvise your own Passport Patrika.

Comments, Queries and suggestions are welcome.

Write to us at [email protected]

@

PUZZLE 1:The man picks up a piece of wood and lights it from the fire on the west end of the island.

He then quickly carries it near the east end of the island and starts a new fire. The wind will cause that

fire to burn out the eastern end and he can then shelter in the burnt area.

PUZZLE 2:The man in front knew he was wearing a black hat because he knew the first man did not

see two white hats and he knew that the second man did not see one white hat because if he saw a white

hat, the second man would have known that his hat was black from hearing the first man's statement.

SOLUTION TO THE PUZZLE

Media contingent covering the Curtain Raiser

event

JS & EAM with the RPO Bangalore officials

EAM interacting with the PSK staff RPO Bangalore official welcoming the EAM at

PSK

Passport Patrika | May 2010

Documents

Transcript of Passport Patrika | May 2010