External affairs minister S M Krishna today unveiled four Passport Seva Kendras (PSKs) as part of the Passport Seva Project in Karnataka to ensure speedy delivery of the document.

Two PSKs in Bangalore and one each in Mangalore and Hubli were simultaneously launched here under the project that would ensure that an applicant gets the passport three days after his or her police verification is completed.

Describing it as a "red letter day" in the ministry's history, Krishna said, "it is the culmination of a long and arduous journey of changing a 50 year-old system in line with today's needs."

He said there was lot of challenges and difficulties in launching the project as it involved a detailed study of processes and procedures in other countries and adapting it to India.

The process of economic reforms and liberalisation envisioned by former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi and pursued by Centre in the early 1990s resulted in growth rate picking up which in turn led to opportunities and the growing number of youths pushed the demand for passports to an unprecedented level, he said.

From 1958-2006, the number of passports increased 133 times and between 2006 and 2010 it almost doubled. This increase meant inordinate delays and difficulties faced by citizens despite simplification of process, Krishna said.

As opening of new passport offices and mere growth in capacity was insufficient to meet the growing demands of passport, the Passport Seva Project was envisaged with 77 PSKs across the country. A call centre operating 24x7 in 17 languages and a centralised nationwide computerised system was created for issuance of passports.

"It is the first national level project using biometrics and bringing together government and private sector (with TCS as the implementing agency)," Krishna said.