New Delhi: The government said in the Lok Sabha on Friday that the process of issuing e-passport will be started in the next six months and the government is fully vigilant about the security of data in them. External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar said in Question Hour that the whole world is moving towards chip-based e-passport and India will also have to move in this direction. He said that the process has started in this regard and Letters of Intent (LoIs) have been issued for 4.5 crore chips.
Jaishankar said, “We are confident that after the contract is awarded in the next few days, we will be in a position to start the process of issuing e-passports within six months.” To a question about the possibility of speeding up the process of granting passports after the issue of chip-based documents, he said that the process will naturally speed up once the process is regularised.
The digital signature which will secure the data will be sent to other countries for recognition purposes: External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar in Lok Sabha on data security issue regarding the e-Passports
— ANI (@ANI) February 4, 2022
Responding to supplementary questions from Congress’s MK Raghavan and Shashi Tharoor regarding data theft due to chip-based e-passports and concerns regarding security of citizens, Jaishankar said that the objective of issuing e-passports is to make travel smooth, quick and easy. To ensure the security of the data. Talking about data security, he said, it is inserted into the chip through a specific process and printed with a special printer. He said that this process takes place in several stages.
read also
External Affairs Minister said that we are currently testing the sample passport to be sure about its security concerns. “We are very cautious about the dangers of data theft (skimming). Hence the sample passport is going through the testing process (testbed). Unless the passport is handed over to the officer, there is no possibility of data theft.”
Jaishankar also said that “unless we are sure that there is no risk of skimming, it is natural that we will not move forward.” We are sure that this will not happen. We are alert.” Responding to DMK MP Dayanidhi Maran’s supplementary question on delay in immigration process at airports in India, Jaishankar said, “I pass through airports probably the most among all people and I keep an eye on other counters as well.
One would agree that procedures at airports have improved and the number of counters has increased. Therefore, this concern of the member is not correct. We also believe that there is room for improvement.” To a question about whether there would be any discrimination with the South Indian states in issuing e-passports, Jaishankar said that there will never be any favor or against any state in this matter.
Terming Maran’s remarks about discrimination against states inappropriate, he said he rejects it. It is worth noting that Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had announced the issuance of chip-based e-passport in her budget speech on Tuesday. According to the government, the e-passport has smart card technology, which is fitted with a ‘Radio Frequency Identification’ (RFID) chip.
The features of the chip are in line with the guidelines of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), a specialized agency of the United Nations, which defines standards for international travel documents, including e-passports. It will contain information both on paper and on chip.