Congress MP Dr. Shashi Tharoor, who chairs the Parliamentary Standing Committee on External Affairs, led an on-site review of the Regional Passport Office (RPO) and Passport Seva Kendras (PSKs) in Jammu on Monday, 22 June 2026, questioning officials on passport issuance processes and service delivery.

Context

Tharoor posted that the committee held 'a detailed meeting' in Jammu, where members 'asked some tough and probing questions about passport issuance.' The visit marks one of the committee's periodic field reviews of Ministry of External Affairs field offices, taking the panel outside Delhi to assess ground-level implementation of citizen services.

Jammu serves as the winter capital of the Jammu and Kashmir union territory and hosts one of the country's regional passport offices. The RPO caters to residents across the region, making it a high-footfall office where service quality has direct public impact.

Policy Backdrop

The Passport Seva Project, launched in 2010, replaced a largely manual system with a centralised, digitised platform for passport processing. The project created the network of Passport Seva Kendras as citizen-facing facilitation centres to handle applications, renewals, and related services at scale.

Despite the digitalisation push, passport issuance has remained a recurring subject of parliamentary scrutiny. Complaints about processing delays and police verification bottlenecks have persisted across regions, prompting committees to periodically examine whether administrative and technological systems are functioning as intended.

Stakeholders and Impact

The committee's on-site review directly concerns passport applicants across Jammu and Kashmir, many of whom depend on timely passport processing for employment, education, and travel abroad. Delays or procedural gaps in the RPO system translate into tangible hardship for ordinary citizens.

Parliamentary Standing Committees hold oversight authority over executive agencies and their findings carry institutional weight. Questions raised during such visits typically surface in formal committee reports, which can compel the Ministry of External Affairs to issue corrective instructions to field offices. The presence of the committee in Jammu also signals that the panel is conducting its review beyond the capital, giving regional offices direct exposure to parliamentary accountability.

What's Next

The committee's observations from the Jammu visit are expected to feed into a formal report to be tabled in Parliament. Any significant findings related to delays, staffing gaps, or procedural shortcomings at the RPO or PSKs could result in recommendations directed at the Ministry of External Affairs.

Stakeholders and civil society groups monitoring passport service delivery will watch for the committee's eventual report and any subsequent administrative action. The visit sets the stage for a broader assessment of how well the Passport Seva Project's infrastructure is serving citizens in the union territory.