On the occasion of the Passport Seva Divas, external affairs minister S Jaishankar on Wednesday said that the introduction of chip-enabled e-passports will greatly strengthen the security of Indian travel documents.
The Passport Seva Divas is observed to commemorate the enactment of the Passports Act on June 24, 1967.
What is an e-passport?
- A biometric passport, also known as an e-passport or a digital passport, has an embedded electronic microprocessor chip that contains biometric information of an applicant that can be used to authenticate the identity of the passport holder.
- A chip embedded to it, the e-passport will ensure the security of the passport holder’s data. Salient features: The chip in the e-passport adds advanced security features to it. With the security features, if anyone tries to tamper with the chip, the system will be able to detect it.
- The e-passport can’t be tampered with and the misuse of the passport will be prevented.
- The e-passports will have all the personal details of the applicants, digitally stored and signed in the chip.
- This means, when anyone tempers with the chip, the system will be able to identify it, which will eventually lead to the failure of passport authentication.
- Also, information access is protected in such a manner that the chip cannot be read without physical possession of the passport.
- The software for e-passports has been developed by National Informatics Centre and IIT-Kanpur, and no commercial agency is involved in the process.
- The memory space of the said chip will be 64 kilobytes, whereas information of around 30 international movements and visits can be stored in it.
- Another feature of the e-passport is it can be read in just a few seconds, saving time.
- In addition, it will have thicker front and back covers.
- The government has given approval to the India Security Press, Nashik, for procuring electronic contactless inlays for the manufacturing of e-passports.
Expediting the process
- In his address via video conference on the occasion of the Passport Seva Divas, Jaishankar said his ministry is working with Indian Security Press, Nashik, and National Informatics Centre for chip-enabled e-passports with advanced security features, emphasising the need to expedite their rollout.
- Last year, the government had revealed that it was working on plans to issue e-passports with advanced security features such as a chip storing personal details of an applicant embedded in the physical passport booklet.
Source: TOI