Bhubaneswar, July 27: The Odisha government today urged the Centre to set up two more passport seva kendras in the southern and western regions of the state.

At present, all the 30 districts of Odisha are served by the passport seva kendra in Bhubaneswar.

In a letter to Union external affairs minister S.M. Krishna, chief minister Naveen Patnaik suggested that two centres — one in Berhampur for the southern region and the other in Sambalpur for the western region — would be of great help to people in obtaining their passports.

The demand for passport has registered a steady and substantial rise with the expansion of mobility across boarders for education, tourism and business. Scores of skilled migrant workers are also going abroad to find job.

The passport seva kendra in Bhubaneswar had issued about 53,000 passports in 2011. As many as 9,011 applications were received last year from the 10 districts of western Odisha, whose average distance from the Odisha capital is 312km.

From eight southern districts, the passport seva kendra in Bhubaneswar had received 7,578 applications in the same year. The average distance of these districts from Bhubaneswar is 367km.

“If two additional passport seva kendras are established in Sambalpur and Berhampur, the average distance of the proposed passport seva kendras from these districts will be reduced from 312km to 116km and 367km to 178km respectively,” said Naveen.

The passport seva kendra of Bhubaneswar was launched here on May 28. The kendra, an initiative of the Union ministry of external affairs under the Passport Seva Project, aims at providing efficient and speedy service to passport applicants.

The kendra has improved public amenities such as baby care room, public phone booth, and wheelchair for differently-abled people.