The Indian passports will soon stop serving as valid proof of address following a new decision that the last page will be left blank, as per the details released by the
The last page of the passport includes the father or legal guardian’s name, along with the names of the holder’s mother, spouse and their address.
According to India’s foreign ministry, the decision was taken based on the recommendations of a three-member committee – comprising officials from the Ministry of External Affairs, and the Ministry of Women and Child Development.
He also said that the last page of the passport will be blank in the new version. The information will still be stored in the system of the Ministry, so it will not affect the government.
"As the last page of the passport would not be printed now, the passport holders with ECR (Emigration Check Required) status would be issued a passport with orange passport jacket and those with non-ECR status would continue to get a blue passport," he added.
As per the local media reports, the decision to keep the last page blank was to protect the details of the passport-holder mentioned in the document. The changes will be evident all future passports.
Passports currently are issued in three colours. Government officers have a white passport, diplomats have red passports and all others blue.
These changes will not affect people holding the old passports, which will continue to remain valid till they expire.
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