The ministry for external affairs (MEA) has decided reverse its decision to issue an orange passport for Emigration Check Required (ECR) holders and discontinue the practice of printing the last page of passport.
The decision was taken in a meeting chaired by external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj on Monday, the MEA said.
In a statement, the foreign ministry said it had been decided to continue with the current practice of printing the last page of the passport and not to issue a separate passport with an orange jacket to ECR passport holders. Passports currently are issued in three colours. Government officers have a white passport, diplomats are issued red passports and all other passports are blue.
The government had announced these changes earlier this month, but foreign minister Sushma Swaraj reviewed the decision after a spate of protests and representations.
The MEA said it had received several individual and collective representations requesting to reconsider two decisions of not printing last page and orange ECR passport.
Interestingly, on Monday, the Kerala High Court had issued a notice to the central government on a PIL challenging its decision to introduce orange-coloured passports for people requiring emigration check.
In his plea, lawyer Shamsuddeen Karunagappally argued that such a move would lead to segregation of people with low education and low economic status.
The MEA had said in a statement that the passport holders with ECR status would be issued a passport with orange-coloured jacket and those with non-ECR status would continue to get a blue passport,
Emigration check is required for passport holders, not having education beyond the tenth standard, and having less than taxable income, who seek migration for employment, the petitioner said.
The petitioner contended that the move would make their underprivileged status known publicly through separate colour code. It is a grave invasion of their fundamental right to privacy and dignity, he said.
There is no rational objective to be achieved through this segregation. It is demeaning and shockingly violative of the principle of equality, the petitioner said.
The move will create practical hardships to migrant workers, as the chances of harassment and exploitation will increase when their vulnerable status is made apparent on the passport through separate colour code, he alleged.
The petitioner was also aggrieved by the government's decision to omit last page of the passport containing details including the holder's address.
According to the MEA statement, the recommendations of a three-member panel, comprising officials from the MEA and the ministry of women and child development, were accepted and it was decided that the last page of the passport and other travel documents issued under the Passports Act, 1967 and Passport Rules, 1980 "would no longer be printed".
The move was not supported by any cogent reason and does not achieve any purpose, the petition alleged.
