EAM’s address during the Annual Regional Passport Officers’ Conference (June 19, 2026)

Secretary Department of Posts, Shri Subrata Das ji,
Secretary ER, Sudhakar Dalela ji,
Secretary West, Sibi George ji,
Secretary CPV and OIA, Shri Priya Ranganathan ji,

Colleagues from the Ministry of External Affairs, of the Central Passport Organization, our valued partners from police, post, and various service providers of the Passport Seva Program.

Namaskar, very good evening to all of you.

It gives me great pleasure to join you all today at the 14th Passport Seva Divas, as we commemorate the enactment of the Passports Act of 1967. In doing so, we celebrate a governance framework that has fundamentally shaped India's interaction with the world.

As we gather here today, let me recall the words of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, that Seva, Sushasan, and Garib Kalyan are the core pillars driving our journey towards Viksit Bharat, and all of you dealing with passports contribute to that in many ways. The Prime Minister, in fact, highlighted how passport services have become a shining example of the transformation that India has seen in the last 12 years.

Now, when I first entered government, a passport, I must tell you, was a privilege. In fact, for most people, it was a very hard-won achievement. This document required, to be honest, it required influential connections, dealing with complex paperwork, and journeys to offices spanning several days just to access the office and get your application in.

Today, passport delivery has actually become completely democratized. It is swift, it is secure, it is decentralized. It is accessible to the remotest corners of the nation. And the benchmark of your success is that if actually a passport does not arrive soon, citizens hold us all accountable, including through social media. So this shift in public expectations, this in a way, I want you to think of it as a validation today of our digital governance.

Now, to understand how far we have come, and Mubarak walked us through some of that in his presentation, reflect on the baseline of 2014. In 2014, as you are all aware, there were just 77 Passport Seva Kendras, PSKs, across the entire country. And the annual passport issuance was 83 lakhs. Now, through an expansion campaign, through what I would really regard as an imaginative expansion campaign, we have established 544 functional Kendras, combining 93 PSKs and an elaborate network of 454 Post Office PSKs.

Now, this was done smoothly, it was done rapidly. And think about it, you know, this is a 6X expansion of capabilities by the government. And this 6X happened because we were partnering another government department in that endeavor. So, when we often say, less government, more governance, I would say I hold up the passport, the POPSK program actually as an example of what is possible when government departments pool their resources, come together, and develop that culture of working together.

Now, our annual issuance volume has surged to, I believe, a 138 lakhs plus in financial year 25-26. But let me say that this only reflects the soaring aspirations of a globalizing India. Every time we look at a number and feel happy, there will be higher numbers that await us.

A pivotal driver of this modern governance is, of course, the successful nationwide implementation of Passport Seva Program in its 2.0 version. And the launch, again all of you are drivers of it, you have made it possible, of the Global Passport Seva Program. And this has been done across our embassies, our consulates worldwide, operating in tandem with this advanced tech ecosystem, is our transition to a biometric chip-enabled e-passports. I know it's had its own share of challenges, but you know, we have dealt with it to arrive at where we are. And this has today become a standard for all new passport issuances.

It is backed by an advanced digital infrastructure, and this system securely embeds a citizen's biometric data. By combining security with accessibility, because that is very, very important, PSP 2.0 actually has truly redefined global mobility for a Viksit Bharat.

Colleagues, a passport is not merely a booklet of pages. It is a powerful tool, a vital tool, of economic mobility, of international trade, I would even say of national identity. As our foreign policy establishes India as a Vishwa Bandhu, the Indian passport is treated with respect and with confidence internationally. Our responsibility is to ensure that the process of obtaining this document remains a matter of right, not as a struggle.

So let me add my words to some of the sentiments that I heard expressed on the forum today. This conference is a kind of a Manthan, a Chintan about how to improve service delivery. And I want to say that there is no end to it. That it is constant work in progress. And it is work in progress because we will keep improving if we keep getting feedback. If we keep listening to the public. To the consumers. If we keep listening to ourselves in the organization. That at every level of the organization, if we have the openness and the desire to self-improve, and we absorb suggestions from within the organization, and ideas that come from interacting with the public.

Because I can tell you, I mean sometimes, not just in passports, sometimes you, from the user, from the public, often there are very, what might seem small suggestions, very practical fixes to what can be a nagging problem for the consumer. So, one part of it is how to take the feedback from the public. One part for all of you as colleagues, I would say is how to give the feedback, you know. It is not only a pendency report that I want. I would also welcome if any of you have suggestions saying you know if we do this one thing, two things, somewhere this will result in a better service delivery.

And I also want all of you to fully appreciate really the enormity of the contribution that you make. I have just come back today accompanying the Prime Minister on a visit to Europe, to the G7, to France, to Slovakia. And one of the recurring themes there has been how much they value Indian talent. The appreciation for Indian talent is really growing in leaps and bounds. But Indian talent will not be there if you people don't deliver on that service which enables them to reach there. It's not just being there, you know, when someone is outside or someone wants to go outside, there are so many other concerns that they have.

Now, by making a passport delivery that much easier, and maintaining it abroad, you know, you've taken a big load off people's mind when they have so many other things to also think about. So, when we speak today about a global workplace and the fact that India and Indians can serve as a global workforce. That will happen, that is happening, because all of you do what you do. That you have today made the passport, obtaining a passport, almost I would say like a model example, not just of governance in India, but also putting together the basis of a global workforce which is working outside the country.

So I really, you know, for me, being here with you is not a formality. It is an occasion where I want to genuinely express to you the appreciation of the entire government, of the leadership of the government, that what you do today, because the benefits of what you do are enormous. You know, when we say today our exports have grown by X percent, or our remittance by Y percent, or, you know, as I said, so many people whether it is shipping, whether it is aircraft crew, whether it is people working in factories, it is reflected often in the numbers of other departments, but the core reason is the enabling which you do for those things to happen.

So I want really today to commend all your efforts, efforts of the Ministry, of the CPO, of those in India, those abroad, our partners from police and post, all the service providers, you know, we talk often about Team India. This to me is an extremely good example of what Team India can achieve.

So let us today really take a pledge that we will keep, not just providing service and better service, but we, we innovate, we are creative, we are open, how we, how we secure identity while doing so, how we serve with greater efficiency. And I'm very confident that this seamless public service that you have provided, which serves as an engine for a prosperous, globally connected, and Viksit Bharat will get better and better with each passing year.

Once again, I thank you all for everything that you do. I particularly congratulate the winners of various awards and achievements because I think in a way it's good to have that competitive spirit in an organization. And with those words, I wish you all a very, not just a good deliberation which has happened over the last few days, but with the confidence that you go back more motivated, more committed, with a desire to keep doing better.

Thank you. Jai Hind. Jai Bharat.

New Delhi
June 19, 2026