E-passport will allow easier, smoother travel, EAM Jaishankar tells Lok Sabha
India Today
Responding to queries in Lok Sabha, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said that e-passport will allow for easier and smoother travel for holders.
The purpose of issuing e-passports is to make it easier, smoother to travel, and also ensure better data security of the passport holder, External Affairs Minister (EAM) S Jaishankar told Lok Sabha on Friday.
The EAM said that new passports will have chips which will have information printed on them using special printers. The information will be secured by multiple digital keys, he said.
Responding to queries during the Question Hour, the minister assured the House that e-passports will be launched only after ensuring efficacy of its data security features.
"There will be multiple layers of security. We are testing it, so we can show to ourselves and other countries that it is secure.
"Because it is both on paper as well as chip, the average citizen will find that the data is much more integral and more protected than it would be in other circumstances," Jaishankar said.
The entire world is now moving to chip-based passports, so we will also have to move, the minister said.
The EAM explained that the government has issued letters of intent to get 4.5 crore chips and antennae. "We expect once we award the contract, which will take a little time, within 6 months, we will be in the process of issuing the passports. It will be within this financial year," he said.
