New Delhi: After objections raised in many quarters, including by Congress president Rahul Gandhi, the external affairs ministry on Tuesday did a complete volte-face and decided to continue printing the last page of passports while dropping the plan to issue separate orange-coloured passports to citizens with ECR (Emigration Check Required) status, that is mostly required by less-skilled workers.
The last page of the passport contains “information such the name of the father, mother, spouse, address, Emigration Check Required (ECR) and old passport number, with date and place of issue of the holder of the passport”.
Mr Gandhi had opposed the plan to issue separate orange-coloured passports to citizens with ECR status, saying that it shows the BJP’s “discriminatory mindset” and had accused the government of treating India’s migrant workers as “second class citizens”.
As the last page also contains the address of the holder, Tuesday’s decision means the passport can continue to serve as an address-proof document, which has allayed the fears of some after the earlier decision. The rollback was justified by the MEA on the grounds that it had received several representations against the earlier two decisions. The volte-face has, though, raised questions on why the step was taken earlier without considering its implications.
The MEA had earlier this month announced the two decisions that were rolled back on Tuesday. The earlier decision not to print the last page was taken after the MEA accepted the recommendations of a three-member committee
Passport decision taken after a review
The three-member committee comprised its officials and those of the women and child development ministry set up “to examine issues pertaining to passport applications where the mother/child had insisted that the name of the father should not be mentioned and also relating to passport issues to children with single parent and adopted children.”
