New Delhi, Dec 24 (DHNS): The Ministry of External Affairs has done away with the mandatory requirement of the birth certificate as proof of date of birth (DOB) when applying for a passport.

All passport applicants can submit any one of the documents — transfer/school-leaving/matriculation certificate, PAN card, Aadhaar card/E-Aadhaar with the DOB, a copy of the extract of the service record of the person, driving licence, Election Photo Identity Card (EPIC) issued by the Election Commission or LIC policy bond.

Hitherto, as per the statutory provisions of the Passport Rules, 1980, all applicants born on or after January 26, 1989, had to mandatorily submit the birth certificate as proof of the DOB to get a passport. It has also done away with the rules that required divorcees and separated women to give the spouse’s name.

Henceforth, the online passport application requires the person to provide the name of father, mother or legal guardian, i.e, only one parent and not both. This would enable single parents to apply for passports for their children, and to also issue passports where the name of either the father or mother is not required to be printed at the request of the applicant.

The government has also accepted the demand by sadhus and sanyasis that they should be allowed to write the names of their gurus instead of parents. But they have to provide at least one public document such as EPIC, PAN card or Aadhaar card, wherein the name of the guru has been recorded against the column(s) for parent(s) name(s).

Orphaned children, who do not have any proof of DOB like a birth certificate or matriculation certificate or the declaratory court order, may now submit a declaration given by the head of the orphanage or child care home.