NEW DELHI: The government has decided to keep the last page of the
passport blank in keeping with the recommendations of a committee set up to look into, among other issues, requests by single mothers that the name of the father not be mentioned in their child's passport.
World’s most and least powerful passportsThe last page of the passport currently lists the names of father/legal guardian, mother, spouse, address, and whether the holder is in the 'Emigration Check Required (ECR)' category.
With the last page blank, passports will most likely cease to be a valid address proof.
Under the changed system, those with ECR status would be issued orange passports, the ministry of external affairs (
MEA) said in a statement.
"A three-member committee comprising the officials of the MEA 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 not be mentioned in the passport, and also relating to passports issued to children with a single parent and to adopted children," the MEA added.
The report has been accepted by the MEA. One of the recommendations was that the MEA explore the possibility of doing away with the printing of information now found on the last page. "The ministry has examined the recommendation... and decided 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," the MEA said.
Read this story in MarathiThe Indian Security Press at Nashik, will design the new passports.
Existing passports remain valid till the date of expiry printed on them.