Union Minister of State for External Affairs VK Singh said that the Central government is taking steps to issue passports to youth, who are aspiring for overseas education and especially to provide passports for people in rural areas.<br/><br/>Speaking after inaugurating a new Passport Seva Laghu Kendra (PSLK) at Bhimavaram in West Godavari district of Andhra Pradesh on Wednesday, he explained that it used to take three to four months to get passport in the past and added that now, any person could get passport in 10 days due to the measures taken by the NDA government. <br/><br/>Explaining the need to open a new passport office in Bhimavaram, Mr. Singh said that over one lakh persons had applied for the passport from the twin Godavari districts in the last one year, whereas two lakh persons applied for the passport from Srikakulam, Vizianagaram, Visakhapatnam, Yanam and Guntur districts.<br/><br/>At present, the Visakhapatnam passport office headquarters is functioning with three seva kendras including two in the city and one in Vijayawada.<br/><br/>In order to reach out to the citizens of Andhra Pradesh, the Ministry of External Affairs has consented for a PSLK at Bhimavaram. <br/><br/>It would cater to the needs of 100 applicants per day and the number could be increased as per the demand.<br/><br/>It would take only three days for the renewal of the passport, if all the details are correct.<br/><br/>The idea of opening the PSLK Bhimavaram was proposed two years back and it is now ready for operations. <br/><br/>The slots for this kendra were released from June 21.<br/><br/>Andhra Pradesh Minister for Health K. Srinivas, Minister for Endowments, P. Manikyala Rao, Narsapur MP Gokaraju Gangaraju, Visakhapatnam MP K. Hari Babu, Eluru MP Maganti Venkateswara Rao, Rajya Sabha member T. Sithamahalakshmi, Bhimavaram MLA P. Ramanjaneyulu and others were present.