Daijiworld Media Network – Mangaluru (NJC)

Mangaluru, Aug 12: Dakshina Kannada District Congress Labour Cell president Lawrence D’Souza has urged the Union Ministry of External Affairs to establish a Regional Passport Office (RPO) in Dakshina Kannada, citing the growing workload at the city’s Passport Seva Kendra amid the increasing number of people travelling abroad for employment and education.

Speaking at a press conference at the officr of the Dakshina Kannada District Congress Lawrence D’Souza said the district’s geographical spread, population, increasing number of passport applicants and the need for accessible public services made the establishment of a regional passport office necessary.

He said an RPO in Dakshina Kannada would make passport-related administrative services easier and more efficient for people across the coastal region.

D’Souza also demanded the establishment of additional Passport Seva Kendras in eight coastal and Malnad districts, including Udupi, Uttara Kannada, Shivamogga, Chikkamagaluru and Kodagu. He said people currently have to travel long distances to access passport services, and district-level centres would help save both time and money.

He urged the Ministry of External Affairs to constitute a committee to conduct a comprehensive feasibility study on establishing an RPO in Dakshina Kannada. The study, he said, should examine data from the past five years, including the number of new passports issued, renewal applications received, Tatkal passports issued, applications sent for police verification, pending applications and the average time taken to process applications from Dakshina Kannada, Udupi, Kodagu, Chikkamagaluru and neighbouring districts.

According to passport processing data for 2025 cited by D’Souza, 10,01,273 applications were submitted to the Regional Passport Office in Karnataka, of which 9,85,831 passports were issued. In Kerala, 6,90,398 applications were received in Kochi, with 6,84,434 passports issued, while Kozhikode received 7,42,250 applications and issued 7,37,984 passports.

In Tamil Nadu, Chennai received 5,62,003 applications and issued 5,47,410 passports, while Coimbatore received 2,00,793 applications and issued 1,99,035 passports. Madurai received 2,97,689 applications and issued 2,90,621 passports.

D’Souza pointed out that Kerala and Tamil Nadu each have three Regional Passport Offices, while Karnataka has only one. Kerala has 19 Passport Seva Kendras and Tamil Nadu has 32, whereas Karnataka has only five, including the centre in Dakshina Kannada, he said.

Despite Karnataka processing an average of around 10 lac passports annually, the state has fewer regional offices and service centres compared to Kerala and Tamil Nadu, he said. He urged the Dakshina Kannada MPs to take up the issue with the Centre and initiate steps to establish a Regional Passport Office in the coastal region.

City Block Congress president B Prakash Salian and leaders Shubhachandra Kolnadu, Neerajpal, Nityananda Shetty, John Montero and Wahab Kudroli were present at the press conference.