A lotus symbol will be added to the new Indian passports. On Thursday, the Ministry of External Affairs stated that the usage of the lotus is a part of a security measure. This statement was made in response to an issue raised by the opposition party at the Lok Sabha this week.
This symbol is our national flower and is part of the enhanced security features to identify fake passports.
-Ministry of External Affairs Spokesperson Raveesh Kumar
Because the lotus is the election symbol of BJP, M K Raghavan of the Congress brought up the issue of a lotus being printed on new passports brought for distribution in Kozhikode in Kerala during the Zero Hour. He went on to say that the matter was highlighted by one of the newspapers and alleged that this was “further saffronisation” of the government. Raveesh Kumar stated that it is just one of the symbols they plan on using.
Apart from the Lotus, other national symbols will be used on rotation. Right now it is lotus and then next month there will be something else. These are symbols connected with India such as national flower or national animal.
-Ministry of External Affairs Spokesperson Raveesh Kumar
The Ministry of External Affairs stated that these security features have been introduced as part of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO).