Government to roll out chip-enabled passports soon

New Delhi: External affairs minister (EAM) S. Jaishankar on Monday said the government “proposes to pursue the manufacture of e-passports on priority so that a new passport booklet with advanced security features can be rolled out in the near future”.

He was speaking at the annual function to mark the “passport seva divas” in the capital.

The EAM said, “I am happy that the India Security Press, Nashik, is working towards further improving the quality and security features of our passport booklet. The ministry has initiated discussions with the India Security Press regarding the project for issue of chip-enabled e-passports to the citizens. We propose to pursue the manufacture of e-passports on priority so that a new passport booklet with advanced security features can be rolled out in the near future.”

Praising the performance and contribution of the State Governments of Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Kerala on timely delivery of passports for which they received recognition by the MEA, Mr Jaishankar said, “The state police authorities have an important role in the timely delivery of passports.... the average time taken for police verification has come down to 19 days in 2018, we would like to bring this down further. In this context, the performance of States like Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Kerala has been exemplary and their award today is well deserved.”

Interestingly, all three states are ruled by Opposition parties. Andhra Pradesh was ruled by the TDP government for the past five years till recently when the YSRCP government assumed office there. Telangana was and is still  being ruled by the TRS government while the Left Front is in power in Kerala. Speaking on the government’s initiatives in the past five years, the EAM said, “Our government,  in its previous tenure, took major initiatives in the simplification of the passport rules.