For passport, sadhus, sanyasis can cite guru as a parent

For sadhus and sanyasis, who are rootless, the government has turned benevolent. In passport applications, they can write the name of their spiritual guru in place of their biological parent.

In new rules for passport application announced on Friday, the Ministry of External Affairs has said seers and mendicants can apply for a passport mentioning the name of their spiritual guru in place of their biological parents'.

However, they must provide at least one public document such as election photo identity card (EPIC), PAN card, Aadhaar card etc., where their guru's name has been recorded against the column for parents' names.

The new rules also reflect modern lifestyle and family values. They allow the applicant to mention the name of any one parent instead of both as was the practice earlier.

Announcing the new rules, Minister of State for External Affairs V.K. Singh said there were two issues involved in the new rule for sadhus and sants.

"One is the question of the names of their parents. The other is the proof of date of birth, which they have to submit anyway from the new basket of documents," Singh said.

Chief Passport Officer Arun Chatterjee, who was also present, said it has been a long-standing demand of these people and this has now been accepted by the ministry.

--IANS

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