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India To Soon Introduce Next-Gen E-Passport, To Enable Smooth Passage Through Immigration Posts Globally: MEA
Swarajya Staff
Jan 06, 2022, 02:42 PM | Updated 02:42 PM IST
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In a significant development, the Central government will soon start issuing e-passports for Indian citizens.
"India to soon introduce next-gen ePassport for citizens," said Sanjay Bhattacharyya, Secretary in Ministry of External Affairs (MEA).
According to the MEA secretary, these e-passports will be secured with biometric data and will pave the way for the smooth passage of passengers through immigration posts across the world.
There will be a microchip embedded in the passport and it will carry the important information of the passport holder's biometric data. The chip will further have an internationally recognised logo for e-passports, reports Economic Times.
Other security features included in the chip will prohibit unauthorised transfer of data via the radio-frequency identification (RFID).
Though passports are largely rolled out as personalised printed booklets currently, the Centre had run a trial version of e-passports by issuing 20,000 of them for diplomatic and official purposes.
All the 36 passport offices in the country under the MEA will issue these e-passports.
As per the report, earlier there were plans to incorporate this system back in 2021 itself. However, the implementation was delayed owing to the Covid-19 pandemic.
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