MEA makes passport procedure stress-free for sadhus, sanyasis

New Delhi: The Ministry of External Affairs on Friday allowed sadhus and sanyasis to apply for the travel document by giving their “spiritual guru’s” name instead of their biological parents, to mark a smooth procedure for them to get the important document to travel abroad.

The divine men have been allowed to fill out their passport forms with the names of their spiritual gurus instead of parents, provided these match with those on at least one document such as voter, PAN or Aadhar cards.

Applicants born on or after January 21, 1989, couldn’t be issued passports without a birth certificate.

Another important step aimed at simplifying the process is that attestation by a magistrate or notary will no longer be necessary. Self-declaration on plain paper will do.

Earlier, all applicants had to mandatorily submit their birth certificates as proof of date of birth. The latest revision in the rules now includes the Aadhar card as acceptable proof of DOB.

The MEA also introduced certain policy changes which would be welcome to single parents and divorced applicants.