Abu Dhabi: The Indian government on Tuesday shelved a plan to change the colour of the passport for citizens based on their socioeconomic background. The plan to drop the last page, which serves as address proof, was also shelved.
The ECR status is issued for applicants who have not passed matriculation (grade 10) and who don't pay income tax.
The shelving of the plan comes after a Dubai-based lawyer filed a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) in the Kerala High Court that issued a notice to the Government of India seeking clarification on the issue.
The petitioners challenged the plan arguing that changing passport colours on the basis of socioeconomic background and education would be a violation of the rights to privacy and equality.
The foreign ministry said it would continue with the current practice of printing the last page of the passport and not to issue a passport with an orange jacket for ECR passport holders. Passports currently are issued in three colours – white for government officers, red for diplomats and blue for other citizens. “After comprehensive discussions with various stakeholders, the Foreign Ministry has decided to continue with the current practice of printing of the last page of the passport and not to issue a separate passport with orange colour jacket to ECR passport holders,” Foreign Ministry spokesperson Raveesh Kumar said in a statement.
The petition was filed on January 25 by Shamsuddeen Karunagappally, a Dubai-based lawyer, and Shajahan, a resident of Kollam district of the south Indian state of Kerala, who couldn’t complete his Grade 10.
Earlier, the Indian government had proposed to issue orange passport jackets to citizens who have not completed high school education [Grade 10] and hence require emigration clearance to be employed overseas.
Speaking to Gulf News on Tuesday, Karunagappally said, the government’s decision was against the constitution, violates privacy and is discriminatory. “The central government’s decision will lead to segregation of people on the basis of their academic qualifications and economic status,” he said.
“The Kerala High Court admitted the case on Monday and issued a notice to the central government,” Karunagappally said.
Last week, he visited India to file the PIL and appeared in the Kerala High Court on Monday.
“I believe people shouldn’t be divided on basis of their qualification and their wealth. It means if you have money you will get a superior passport of blue colour. This a segregation and discrimination of people,” he said adding, “It’s also against the Article 14 and Article 20 of the Indian Constitution, which give a person the right to equality and the right to the privacy of an individual.”
So a person has right not disclose his qualification to anybody until it’s required. If a person holds a yellow jacketed passport others will notice that this person is uneducated person, which affects his right to privacy, he said.
