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The Indian authorities have launched a new initiative to streamline the passport delivery services to Indian citizens living in the United States.

The new "Passport Seva Project," was inaugurated by India's Minister of State for External Affairs General Vijay Kumar Singh in three cities - New York, Atlanta, and Washington.

The service will make Indian passports delivery quicker and more efficient.

The initiative is part of a "Global Passport Seva Program" that will be implemented in the country's embassies and consulates worldwide in the next three to four months.

Singh inaugurated the project at the Consulate General of India in New York on November 21. On Saturday, he launched it at the Embassy of India in Washington, D.C., and followed by its launch in Atlanta on Sunday.

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The new digital overhauling will make the application procedure more efficient, and provide to applicants throughout status tracking and enhance security.

The new process will also cut down the time it takes to obtain an Indian passport.

At the launch event in Washington, Singh handed over passports processed under the new project to five Indians, including two children.

Addressing a gathering of members of the community, Singh highlighted various decisions taken by his ministry to streamline passport delivery.

The program will be launched at Indian consulates in Houston, Chicago and San Francisco in the following two weeks.

Globally, the new project was launched earlier this month as a pilot program at the Indian High Commission in London and the country's consulates Birmingham and Edinburgh.

In India, the ministry has started processing passport applications in major offices across the country.

According to the ministry, 236 post offices are processing passport applications and more will start doing so soon.

This is in addition to the 36 existing passport offices and 93 passports "Seva Kendras" that process the application.

-Sowmya Sangam