Tuesday, March 24, 2009

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TCS to launch passport service pilot in June, to hire 2,000

India's largest software company, TCS, plans to hire 2,000 people for the Passport Seva Project, which is ready for a pilot launch in June this year. The Rs 1,000-crore ministry of external affairs project was awarded to TCS last year and the company will set up 79 passport seva kendras (PSK) as part of the project.

Tanmoy Chakrabarty, vice-president, global government business group, TCS told FE that the company has already started recruiting for the project, which will expedite the process of issuance of passport to three working days post police verification.

"A mock passport seva kendras will be set up in New Delhi to train hires, which will take 3-4 weeks," said Chakrabarty. While the pilot launch will see the launch of 7 kendras in six cities, TCS plans to set up the rest by February-March 2010.

The personnel employed and trained by TCS will provide the citizen interface, which will include all aspects of collecting and processing application forms. "BPO aspects, like disaster recovery and troubleshooting, will also be involved," said Chakrabarty.

"The look and feel of the centres will be like that of international bank branches, as the project is based on experience and certainty," he said. Chakrabarty added that personnel will be trained to complete the process of submission of an application form within 45 minutes, instead of the present several hours. In case of passport requests under the taktal scheme, TCS will facilitate issuance on the same day; this process currently takes 7-15 days.

The project will also have representatives from ministry of external affairs, who will do the final vetting of applications.

Chakrabarty, however, didn't reveal the investment details of the project. He also declined to share the revenue that TCS expects out of the project, though he said that every year, at least 5 million passports are issued and TCS will be paid per passport.

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