Sushma Swaraj in Shillong tomorrow

SHILLONG: Union External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj will visit Meghalaya tomorrow to inaugurate a passport Seva Kendra here.

Official sources said the seva kendra, set up by the MEA, will make passprt services more efficient, transparent, easily accessible and closer to the people of Meghalaya where a the number of applications for it were growing.

"The Government is working on setting up of Passport Seva Laghu Kendras (PSLKs) at various locations in the country including Shillong," Minister of State for External Affairs E Ahamed said in a letter to Meghalaya MP Wansuk Syiem.

The new centre in Shillong would take the pressure off the Regional Passport Office (RPO) in Guwahati, which handles applications from Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Manipur and Mizoram, a senior MEA official told PTI.

The demand for passports has increased many folds since the setting up of the Guwahati RPO in 1979, he added.