The ministry of external affairs (MEA) has already identified the areas which can be outsourced to make the process easier without compromising on the `security verification' aspect and if all goes well, quick delivery of passports will be possible by the end of 2008.

Sources in the ministry said the RPOs would be able to meet the three-day deadline by mainly outsourcing its front office work which generally take a lot of time. These include sending applications to the departments concerned for necessary verification exercise. Besides, around 120 outlets will be earmarked across the country for handling delivery of passports after necessary security checks are done, they added.

About the ongoing move to make the passport delivery system smoother, foreign secretary Shiv Shankar Menon said, "Quicker processing and delivery of passports is part of the larger pattern of modernisation the external affairs ministry has embarked on to adapt to changing needs of diplomacy."

Soon, it will also be possible to apply for passports online and know within hours whether one is eligible to get a passport or not, Menon said.