External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj on Friday announced that passports would now be bilingual, that is, in both Hindi and English, and not just in English.
The Committee of Parliament on the Official Language in its 9th report recommended "Hindi" language entries in passports. She said countries like Russian Federation and Germany had passports in their languages.
Swaraj said she had received several complaints about difficulties in getting a passport. The new norms have overridden the passport Rules, 1980, which says applicants born on or after January 26, 1989 have to submit birth certificates. "Speaking after releasing a commemorative postage stamp on completion of 50 years of The Passports Act, 1967", he said that services are delivered through a country-wide networked environment - integrating all Passport Issuing Authorities, around 91 Passport Seva Kendras, as well as providing access to a number of external stakeholders viz. Immigration, Police, India Post, India Security Press and Embassies/ Consulates overseas.
Police verification, a major part of the passport issuing process, takes time, the minister pointed out.
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Swaraj asked other states to emulate Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Delhi, Chandigarh, Gujarat and Goa that complete the police verification process in less than six days.
She also highlighted the steps taken by her ministry in easing rules for getting the worldwide travel document, especially for orphans, single mothers and divorced women.
The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) and the Department of Posts (DOP) have made a decision to utilise the Head Post Offices (HPO)/ Post Offices in the country as Post Office Passport Seva Kendra (POPSK) for delivery of passport related services.
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