New Delhi: Amid the debate over using passports as proof of citizenship, the Government of India has clarified that a passport is primarily a travel document issued to regulate the departure of Indian citizens from the country.
Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said on Tuesday that passports are issued only after due verification through an established process, adding that fewer than eight per cent of Indians currently hold the document.
Senior MEA officials, during a briefing on Passport Seva Divas on June 24, had described the passport as a travel document rather than proof of citizenship.
The remarks came in response to a question on whether a passport could be used as proof of citizenship for the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls being carried out by the Election Commission in several states.
The officials had said that a passport is issued to facilitate international travel and is not a document meant to establish citizenship.
The remarks triggered sharp reactions from opposition parties, including the Congress, which questioned how a passport could be issued to an individual without reflecting the holder's citizenship.
The Congress also accused the government of laying the groundwork to arbitrarily deny citizenship rights to Indians with whom it disagrees.
"An Indian passport is a document that, under the Passports Act, 1967, is issued by the Government of India to regulate the departure from India of citizens of India," Jaiswal said when asked to clarify the government's position.
"It is issued after due verification through an established process. The issuance of passports to Indian citizens or any other individual is governed by the Passports Act, 1967, and the Passports Rules, 1980," he added.
On June 25, the MEA reiterated that a passport is a travel document and not proof of citizenship. It also said that no new policy or decision regarding the status of passports had been taken by the Narendra Modi government over the past 12 years.