Old rules must give way to new, flexible ones
The Union Government's intent to streamline the rules for the application of passport was long overdue and must be welcomed. The Passport Rules that were framed in 1980, had become obsolete. It was, therefore, crucial to make some changes to sync with the modern times. Old rules were best suited according to the needs of the time and made sense then, but with the passage of time and changing needs, there were bureaucratic obstacles that put genuine applicants in a fix, often compelling them to knock the doors of the court. The amendments are significant in the sense that besides reducing paper work, they go on to expand the ambit to include Aadhaar card and other documents as alternatives for birth-proof. Matriculation certificate, PAN card, Aadhaar card, driving licence and lIC policy bond are some of the documents that can be served as proof for birth. This move will come as a great relief to the people who either misplaced their certificates or were unable to find it, and had to undergo endless trouble, running from pillar to post, to get a duplicate document made. Moreover, Aadhaar is a new document and will come handy as it is easily accessible. A new Aadhaar card can anyway be issued at any point of time — the process for which is hassle-free.
The changes have been proposed keeping in mind the social needs of the people. It is aimed at simplifying the passport procurement process by bringing in transparency, reliability, accessibility and fast-tracking its availability. Divorced applicants, single mothers, sadhus and sanyasis, orphaned children, Government employees — all stand to gain. Notably, women, single mothers and divorced, had to undergo harassment to procure or even upgrade a passport for their children as the authorities either demanded a divorce certificate or a sanction from the father. These will no longer be the criteria. The name of one parent will serve the purpose. Even for single parents, the mention of the name of the father or the mother in the passport will no longer be essential. The provision for getting documents attested by notaries or magistrates too has been scrapped. Self-declarations on plain paper will be all that would be required. Henceforth, children, orphaned, adopted or born out of wedlock, will no longer be required to submit a birth certificate. For the orphaned, an acknowledgement from the head of the orphanage confirming the same will be sufficient enough. As for adopted children, they can submit a declaration confirming the adoption. As for sadhus and sanyasis, instead of submitting the names of their parents, they can provide the names of their gurus. These are just a slew of measures that the Government has proposed. There are more to come, which include the setting up of a pilot project under which head post offices can be utilised to issue passports. The new rules conform to the Prime Minister's minimum-Government-maximum-governance push.