New passports to drop parents’ names, address

ECR passports to have orange jacket

The blue-coloured passport will be issued to only those who do not require emigration check.

The Ministry of External Affairs on Friday announced that new passports will soon be printed without the usual last page of the document, which contains names of parents, and address of the applicant. The statement came even as it was declared that the passports for the Emigration Check Required (ECR) category will be issued with orange jackets.

“A three member Committee comprising of the officials of the Ministry of External Affairs and the Ministry of Women and Child Development was constituted to examine various issues pertaining to passport applications where mother/child had insisted that the name of the father should not be mentioned in the passport and also relating to passport issued to children with single parent and to adopted children,” the Spokesperson said explaining that the decision was taken after the committee gave its report to the MEA on the application from a single mother for her child’s passport.

However, sources said that application forms for new booklets of current passport holders will continue to capture the data regarding parents and postal addresses as mentioned in their previous booklets.

After consulting the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) regarding compatibility of passport booklets minus the last page, with Machine Readable Travel Documents, the MEA concluded that, “the last page of the passport and other travel documents issued under the Passports Act, 1967 and Passport Rules, 1980 would no longer be printed”.

Booklets with new orange jackets will be designed and printed at the Indian Security Press (ISP) in Nasik. It is understood that the passports in the Emigration Check Not Required (ECNR) category will continue to have blue jacket.

“..The passport holders with ECR (Emigration Check Required) status would be issued a passport with orange colour passport jacket and those with non-ECR status would continue to get a blue passport,” said the Official Spokesperson in the press release.

Passports have been a key component of the Ministry of External Affairs under the government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the ministry has accelerated the process of printing and distributing passports to Indian citizens since the government came to power in May 2014.