NEW DELHI: After the recent row over remarks by government officials that a passport is not proof of citizenship, the MEA reiterated Tuesday that it is a document that, per Passports Act, 1967, is issued by Indian government to regulate the departure of citizens from India.“…The issue of passports to Indian citizens or any other individual is governed by the Passports Act, 1967, and Passports Rules, 1980,” said MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal. He also said that less than 8% of Indians hold one.Official sources maintain that passport is not a determinant of citizenship that flows from the 1955 Citizenship Act administered by the Union home ministry.The remarks follow a clarification earlier that no new decision has been made on the travel document in 12 years. The clarification had come after allegations that efforts were underway to arbitrarily deny citizenship rights to those who disagree with government.“It was not decided yesterday that the passport is not proof of citizenship. It was not even decided in the last 12 years. The passport has never been proof of citizenship,” a source had said.Citing Passports Act 1967, government sources had then said passports can be issued to even non-citizens “in the public interest” while EC officials said passport continues to be among the 12 valid supporting documents required for voters to prove their eligibility to be on voters’ list.
