Bhubaneswar: Orissa will get three Passport Seva Kendras (PSK) within a fortnight and 20 such facilities by the end of 2018, official sources said.
The secretary for Consular, Passport, Visa and Overseas Indian Affairs of External Affairs Ministry, Dnyaneshwar Mulay said that the three PSKs will come up in Balasore, Bhawanipatna and Berhampur by the next fortnight.
During a meeting between Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik and Mulay, the former requested him to begin an e-VISA service at the Biju Patnaik International Airport, Bhubaneswar, it was learnt.
Patnaik also urged him to take action to bring back the 14 Oriya labourers stuck in Malaysia. “I will take up these issues and we will be able to tackle them with the help of minister of home affairs,” Mulay said.
The 14 said labourers had been dragged into a racket after being promised with jobs in Malayasia. They were flown into that country by agents operating as part of the racket that is spread across parts of Orissa.
After flying into Malayasia, the labourers found themselves being taken away some 300 kilometres to a remote countryside place where they were asked to do soil-digging work and were also said to have been abused and assaulted by the agents’ men.
Press Trust of India
