From now onwards, Indian women need not change their names in passports after their marriage, Prime Minister Narendra Modi today said.

Modi made the statement while speaking at the commemoration of the golden jubilee of Indian merchant chamber's ladies wing.

Towards the end of 2016, the government had also made access for passports friendlier for divorced or separated women when the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) stopped the practice of asking for the name of the spouse.

The step was among a number of measures announced by the government to modernise the passport-seeking process.

WHAT PARLIAMENTARY PANEL SUGGESTED

A Parliamentary panel formed to look into the Passport Act 1967 and Passport Rules 1980, comprising officials from the Ministry of Women and Child Development, the MEA and the Central Passport Organisation, had suggested that the MEA not print details of a person's father, mother or spouse in the passport.

#WATCH PM Modi addresses commemoration of golden jubilee of Indian merchant chambers ladies wing https://t.co/khJhB4xU1D - ANI (@ANI_news) April 13, 2017

The panel also noted that the only information required for immigration is on Page 2 that includes the name, sex, nationality, birth, and passport details of the applicant.

The panel also took cognizance of multiple complaints of harassment, especially from women, during passport registration.

Recently, the government also made the process of making Aadhaar number or passport mandatory for booking domestic flight tickets amid its plans to create a no-fly list to deal with unruly passengers.

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