Shillong, Feb. 6: The state government has moved the Centre to set up a regional passport office here.

Meghalaya does not have a full-fledged passport office, despite the rise in the number of applicants for passports from various districts of the state.

Chief minister Mukul Sangma during his recent visit to New Delhi met external affairs minister S.M. Krishna and apprised him about the need to set up a regional passport office in Shillong to cater to the increasing demand for passports.

Currently, the Regional Passport Office, Guwahati, caters to the needs of six states of the region, which include Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram and Nagaland.

If a regional passport office is opened in Shillong, it can also ease the heavy workload in Guwahati.

According to Sangma, there is a growing demand from various quarters to set up a passport office in Shillong, which will cover all the seven districts of Meghalaya.

The intention to urge the Centre to set up the office is aimed at easing out the problems being faced by the people of the state in obtaining passports, he said

There are no Bangladesh visa offices either in Shillong or Guwahati. People from Assam and Meghalaya have to either travel to Agartala or Calcutta to obtain visas to travel to Bangladesh.

The state government is also planning to pursue the issue of setting up a visa office in Shillong.

Sangma recently had an initial discussion with Union minister of overseas Indian affairs Vayalar Ravi on the need to set up an immigration office in Shillong.