India News | Defaced Passport Covers Not Acceptable: Official
Get latest articles and stories on India at LatestLY. The Ministry of External Affairs has issued a stern advisory to combat the growing misuse of Indian Passports as advertising platforms, a senior official said here on Thursday.
Hyderabad, Aug 31 (PTI) The Ministry of External Affairs has issued a stern advisory to combat the growing misuse of Indian Passports as advertising platforms, a senior official said here on Thursday.
It highlighted the alarming trend where travel agents have been defacing the cover of Indian Passports by pasting their agency or company stickers, said Dasari Balaiah, Regional Passport Officer and Head of MEA Branch Secretariat, Hyderabad in a release.
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The practice not only undermines the sanctity of the passport, but contravenes Union Government guidelines pertaining to passport maintenance, it said.
"The outer cover of the Indian Passport carries the national emblem with the Ashoka Chakra on it and incorporates several security features aimed at ensuring its authenticity and integrity. Pasting adhesives or promotional stickers by agent can mask the national emblem and tamper with the security features and can be compromised--preventing verification of authenticity," the release said.
It may also cause difficulties in assessing the genuineness of the passports and thereby lead to issues for Indian travellers at immigration points, the release added.
(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)