New Delhi, Oct. 12: Getting a passport is going to get faster and hassle-free with a private IT services company lending the government a hand.

Under the Passport Seva Project, Tata Consultancy Services will handle jobs like submission of application forms and tracking their progress. A call centre will take care of applicants’ complaints.

However, “sovereign” aspects — like the decision to give a passport and its printing — will continue to be under the direct supervision of the foreign ministry. There is no change in the police verification process, but the new system is expected to speed up the exercise.

TCS will sign an agreement with the foreign ministry tomorrow. The project — scheduled to take off in Bangalore and Chandigarh from March next year — is expected to end the long queues at passport offices.

Once the project gets going, the government is hoping people will not have to wait more than 45 minutes in queue. Applicants now have to stand in line for two to five hours, often jostling for space in crowded rooms.

The target is to issue a passport in three days after police verification, re-issue one in three days, issue or re-issue passports under the tatkal scheme on the same day and complete the process of changing name or other details in a day.

At present, an applicant has to wait at least 45 days to get a passport and a month to get it re-issued.

The foreign ministry has plans to set up 77 passport seva kendras and upgrade the existing 37 passport offices by January next year.

A manpower crunch at passport offices coupled with a rising demand for passports had prompted the government to look for help from the private sector. The number of passports issued went up 2.2 times from 1997 to 2007.

In 2007, the foreign ministry issued about 50 lakh passports against around 35 lakh in 2005.

Employees at the new offices will be trained to handle the public. People will be able to submit applications online and track their progress.