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E-passports to check forgery

PUNE: The passport division of the ministry of external affairs has initiated the process for the public roll-out of new-age e-passports. The technology will make the document more secure and also substantially reduce the time required by the holder for immigration.While the look and feel of the passport will remain largely as it is now, an electronic chip, containing identidfication data, will be embedded in its back cover. The necessary procurements have been initiated by India Security Press, Nashik, and the actual change-over to the next-generation passport is expected to begin in the first quarter of 2016.The e-passport would contain all the data currently given on the second page of the paper-only passports, including photograph, personal and biological data (finger-prints), besides the country's digital signature used to validate the genuineness of the document. The chip can be sealed only once with the signature of the Passport Issuing Authority (PIA), thus making these e-passports virtually tamper-proof.While e-passports are a norm in more than a 100 countries already, India has so far tested their success on only a few diplomatic and official passports since 2008. The e-passports to be issued now are expected to be technologically superior to those launched on an experimental basis, yet are unlikely to cost more than the fees levied currently for the issuance of a normal passport.Anil Kumar Sobti, director of the passport division, said that e-passports will help people save considerable time spent waiting in queues at immigration counters in India and abroad. "The traveller needs to only swipe the passport at the designated machine and all data stored in the chip will be instantly visible to the officer concerned. These passports will also help in data mining as every traveller's footprint can be tracked down to the last immigration counter. These will also be handy in case of emergencies that require evacuation of Indian nationals from a foreign country".Muktesh K. Pardeshi, joint secretary in the MEA and chief passport officer said, "The e-passport is a recommended practice of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO). Though it is not mandatory, we have already introduced them at a small scale on a few passports. We have also undertaken feasibility studies of implementing the ICAO guidelines regarding the same on the national scale".