Hyderabad: Telangana police have been honoured with the ‘Institutional Performance Award for State Police’ by the ministry of external affairs (MEA) for their outstanding performance in passport verification services.The award was presented by Union external affairs minister Dr S Jaishankar to DGP CV Anand on Friday during the Passport Seva Divas celebrations and Regional Passport Officers’ Conference, held from June 17-19 at Sushma Swaraj Bhavan in New Delhi. Telangana police received the award for ranking first among all state police organisations in the country in delivering fast, transparent and citizen-centric passport verification, a key step in the passport issuance process.During 2025-26, Telangana police processed 7.73 lakh (99%) of the 7.87 passport verification requests received, within an average turnaround time of 5-7 days. As per a statement from the DGP’s office, a key component behind the achievement is VeriFast, a technology-driven passport verification system first developed by Cyberabad police when CV Anand was the commissioner in 2014 and adopted statewide in 2015.Powered by artificial intelligence and data-matching algorithms, VeriFast cross-verifies applicants’ details against the CCTNS database and previous passport records to flag discrepancies, duplicates or criminal antecedents. This marks Telangana police’s seventh national recognition since 2015. The DGP said the award reflects the dedication and service spirit of the state police, and it will inspire the department to continue delivering better and faster services to citizens.
