Based on popular demand, the President of India, Pranab Mukherjee has approved the request for online applications of Indian passports in Hindi language. Following this, in an official statement from the Ministry of External Affairs, Union Minister, Sushma Swaraj announced that going forward, Indian passports will also bear vital information that identify citizens in Hindi, besides English.
How it was…
So far, both application forms and the information in the finally issued passport was in English. The passport’s cover and the presidential order carried letters in Hindi and English, but only English was used on the pages containing registration and identifying clauses like type, country code, passport number, name, surname, nationality, sex, date and place of birth, date and place of issue, date of expiry, name of father/mother/spouse/legal guardian, address, old passport number with date and place of issue and file number.
Even application forms were allowed to be filled out in English alone.
What do these passport changes mean for you?
Following leads of countries like Germany and Russia, the identifying particulars in all fields will now be printed in Hindi as well as English, in the Devanagari script. Not only the registration sub-headings, but also the content therein, will be now available and printed in Hindi language.
As for the application process, bilingual forms will be made available by all passport offices and forms filled in Hindi will also be accepted. To be noted, printouts of filled-in forms will not be accepted by ‘Passport Seva Kendra‘ and Regional Passport Offices.
In order to execute this new directive, provisions are being made for all computers in passport offices across India to have a Hindi language interface. Additionally, new job posts are being created for Officers affluent in Hindi in subordinate offices and embassies abroad. This new procedure is being implemented with immediate effect.
To understand other newly implemented procedures for Indian passport application see how New Indian Passport Application Rules Make The Process Easier.
