Orange Passports and LOTUS mark on PASSPORT

Ministry of External Affairs has decided to offer an orange-coloured passport to travellers who require an emigration check. By this ECR status would be issued a passport with an orange-coloured, non-ECR status will continue to get blue passports.

ECR status

As per the Emigration Act, 1983, certain categories of Indian passport holders require obtaining an ‘Emigration Clearance’ for going to certain countries.

Emigration, as per the Act, means the leaving of India by any Indian citizen with the intent of taking up employment in certain foreign countries. Persons who don’t have a minimum educational qualification of 10th standard (SSC, Matriculation) will come under the ECR category. The idea behind the ‘ECR’ is to ensure the safety of uneducated and unskilled Indian citizens, from the most deprived socio-economic strata, against prevailing legal conditions in certain foreign countries.

Types of passports issued in India

Regular Passport - This has a navy blue cover; it is issued to citizens for ordinary travel like vacations and business trips.
Diplomatic Passport - This has a maroon cover; it is issued to Indian diplomats, top-ranking government officials (joint secretary and above) and diplomatic couriers.
Official Passport - This has a white cover; it is issued to individuals representing the Indian government on official business.

Recent news: The symbol of the lotus is being printed on the Indian Passport for a security feature.

Key data:

A day after opposition members in Lok Sabha raised the issue of lotus being printed on the news the ministry of external affairs said it was part of the enhanced security features to identify fake passports. Also mentioned is that another national symbol such as a national flower or national animal, also be used for security features in a rotational basis. The question was asked in the Zero hour of the Parliamentary session.

The new passports with the lotus symbols are being distributed in Kozhikode in Kerala. These security features have been introduced as part of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) guidelines. Indian citizens who are the bearer of Indian Passport can travel internationally which serves as proof of Indian citizenship as per the Passports Act (1967).

Source: PIB

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