Bhubaneswar, Oct 2 (IANS): The average police verification time for issuance of passport in Odisha has come down to 4 days in September 2021 in comparison to 26 days taken in 2019, the police said here on Saturday.

As per data of passport authorities, average time for passport verification was 26 days in 2018 & 2019 and 36 days in 2020 (delay due to corona). In earlier years, average verification time was 99 days in 2017, 90 days in 2016 and 38 days in 2015, the Odisha police said in a tweet.

Early this year, the police was taking a few weeks for the passport verification. Then, the passport verification was taken as a 5T initiative of the State government. "Tablets were purchased and distributed to each police station. A specific App for passport verification was installed and a special branch started guiding and monitoring passport verification more clearly," the police said.

The average verification time was brought to six days in August last. For the first fortnight of September 2021, average time of passport verification by Odisha police was four days only, which is among the best in the country, the Odisha police claimed.