Kolkata Regional office issues more than 5L passports in 2022

kolkata: The regional passport office in Kolkata has issued a total of 5.6 lakh passports in the calendar year 2022, said Ashish Middha (IFS), regional passport officer, Ministry of External Affairs, on Tuesday.

Addressing a seminar organised by the Bharat Chamber of Commerce,

Middha told the reporters that the Kolkata regional passport office has issued about 5.6 lakh passports till December, 31, 2022.

Asked what measures are being taken to check the forging of passports, a practice prevalent among militants entering a foreign country, Middha said: “Issuing passports has a process where the main component is a police verification report. The state government is the authority that has detailed information about details regarding an individual.”

“The police carried out a thorough enquiry which includes asking the neighbours about the passport applicant. Once everything is taken into account only then a passport will be issued,” he said.

He further added that passports are printed at a secured facility at Indian Security Press (ISP) Nashik.