The question often arises in the country whether passport can be considered as definitive proof of Indian citizenship. Now the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) has given a clear answer on this. The ministry says that it is not right to consider passport as a certificate of citizenship. According to officials, passport is actually a travel document, which is used to prove the identity and nationality of an Indian while traveling abroad. The Ministry of External Affairs said this on the occasion of Passport Seva Day.
Officials said that before issuing passports, complete investigation is done at many levels. During this, documents and information related to different government agencies are matched and verified. A passport is issued to a person only after all the processes are completed and everything is found correct.
Also read: ‘Kharge family looted land worth Rs 100 crore’, BJP alleges corruption
Now the use of e-passport is increasing rapidly
The Ministry of External Affairs said that under the system of e-passport with chip started last year, more than 1.47 crore e-passports have been issued so far. These e-passports have a special RFID chip and antenna, in which the personal information and biometric data of the passport holder is stored with complete security. According to the ministry, it is very difficult to prepare an e-passport in a fake manner or tamper with the data present in it. This makes the immigration process abroad safer and faster.
Major expansion in passport services
According to officials, the processing time for passport applications in the country has been reduced to an average of five to six days. Also, efforts are being made to ensure that no applicant has to spend more than 45 minutes at the Passport Seva Kendra. Currently, 544 Passport Seva Kendras and Post Office Passport Seva Kendras are operating across the country, whereas a decade ago their number was only 77. Work is also going on to speed up the police verification process.
Also read: Major accident in Ladakh, car fell into Dras river; One tourist dead and 3 missing
Foreign travel facilities increased for Indians
The Ministry of External Affairs said that currently 27 countries are providing visa-free travel facility to Indian citizens. In addition, 47 countries provide visa on arrival and 66 countries provide e-Visa facility. The ministry will also organize a ‘Human Resource Mobility Forum’ next week, which aims to connect Indians looking for employment abroad with safe and legal opportunities and alert them to fake recruitment agencies.
Comments are closed.