Upvote:2
References are required for the authentication of the passport applicant during police verification.
A reference is a person who can vouch for the fact that you have stayed at the aforementioned address for the aforementioned period.
Hence, you cannot add people who don't live in the same city as you, as your reference. It would rather be preferable to use say, your friends'/neighbors'/employers' names as references.
As far as the relatives'names are concerned, the same applies to them too. I suppose you can use them as reference as long as they live in the same city.