Government is bringing e-passport, it will be available in just 7 days
With the advancement in technology, the life of common man is becoming easier. Now to provide more convenience to the people in this direction, e-passport is going to replace the normal passport. At the moment you may not believe this information, but it is going to be true. Union Minister of State for External Affairs V Muraleedharan said on Thursday that the government is planning to issue e-passports to citizens from the beginning of 2022-23. Muraleedharan’s reply came in the Rajya Sabha in response to a question on the government’s plan to issue e-passports in the calendar year 2022 and its information. Let us know about e-passport.
How will e-passport
According to PTI, the MoS informed that the e-passport will be a combined paper and electronic passport, with an embedded Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) chip and antenna embedded as an inlay in the back cover. Muraleedharan said that the essential information of the passport will be printed on its data page as well as stored in the chip. The characteristics of the document and chip are described in International Civil Organization (ICAO) document 9303. According to the government, it will be released in just 7 days as against 15-20 days.
E-passport will be manufactured here
Muraleedharan further said that the Ministry of External Affairs has entrusted the technical responsibility of issuing e-passports to the National Informatics Center (NIC). He said that ‘e-passport will be prepared by India Security Press, Nashik. The press has issued letters of intent for the purchase of 4.5 crore ICAO-compliant electronic chips along with its operating system.
Testing of e-passport sample
The MoS informed the Rajya Sabha that the e-passport sample is currently being tested. Full scale manufacturing and distribution will start with the completion of the technical eco-system and infrastructure.
