MEA to open six new Passport Seva Kendras in Gujarat: Akbar

The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) will open six new Passport Seva Kendras (PSKs) in Gujarat, Union Minister M J Akbar said today. Akbar said these PSKs would come up in Amreli, Gandhinagar, Surendranagar, Sabarkantha, Surat and Patan districts. 

"We have accepted the Gujarat government's demand to open six new passport centers," a state government release quoted Akbar. The Union Minister of State for External Affairs was in Gandhinagar today to attend the state outreach conference to discuss issues related to passports, consulates and diaspora, it informed. 

Akbar, addressing the conference, said that his ministry, under the guidance of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, was trying to build a bridge between Non-Resident Indians (NRIs) and citizens living here in order to involve NRIs in the process of nation-building. 

The main objective of this conference was to make the state officials aware about various schemes and initiatives of the MEA for the welfare of Indian students studying abroad and to solve problems faced by NRIs, the release stated. 

Gujarat Minister of State for Home, Pradeepsinh Jadeja, who also handles the NRI portfolio, said the number of PSKs in the state would reach 25 once these six are opened. 

"Before 2014, Gujarat had only five such centers. After Modi Ji became the PM, Gujarat received another 14 centers. Now, with approval for six more centers, the number will reach 25," he added. 

During the meeting, Jadeja informed Akbar that as many as 21,000 Non-Resident Gujaratis (NRGs) had been issued NRG cards by the state government, said the release. 

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)