The total passports issued and valid as of date in India stood at 9.26 crore, with about 4.93 crore issued since 2019. The ministry data, analysed by News18, also shows that about 65 per cent of the total passports were held by men while only 35 per cent were owned by women.
Among states, Uttar Pradesh tops the chart with the highest number of men holding passports. Kerala, which has the most passports, has the highest number of female passport holders among the states, followed by Maharashtra which is second in both categories — overall number of passports and the number of women passport holders.
The numbers analysed by News18 also show that North-eastern states were the best in terms of gender ratio. More than 62 per cent passport holders in Mizoram were women while in Nagaland it was around 55 per cent.
In Sikkim, more than 51 per cent passport holders were women. Similarly, the number for women was better in Arunachal Pradesh (49 per cent), Meghalaya (46per cent), and Manipur (45per cent) compared to the country’s average. Next in line were Goa, Ladakh and Daman and Diu with women accountable for nearly 45per cent of the passports. Bihar (10per cent), Uttar Pradesh (20per cent) and Odisha (25per cent) were on the other end with fewer women with passports.
Between 2015 and 2023, more than 9.17 crore passports were issued across India, including those issued abroad, ministry data shows.
Last year, out of the 1.37 crore passports issued almost half were from five states — Kerala (15.47 lakh), Maharashtra (15.10 lakh), Uttar Pradesh (13.68 lakh), Tamil Nadu (11.47 lakh) and Punjab (11.94 lakh).
Post-pandemic, Kerala has emerged as the state with the highest number of passports issued annually. Between 2016 and 2020, it was Maharashtra that issued the most number of passports in a year. In 2015, Uttar Pradesh issued the highest number of passports among all the states. Since 2015, both Kerala and Maharashtra have issued 1.04 crore passports each, with the southern state ahead with a few thousand passports.
There are a lot of factors that contribute to more passport issuances in India, one being the ease of getting passports. The ministry data shows that in 2015, average passport issuance time was 21 days, which dropped to six in 2023.
The ministry data also shows that during the last week, nearly two lakh passports were issued and almost an equal number of requests were received. In January, over 11 lakh passports were issued in India, it shows.
Indians, who wish to visit a foreign country, are required to have a valid passport at the time of departure. Under the Passports Act 1967, the Centre issues different types of passports — Ordinary, Diplomatic, Official, Emergency Certificate and Certificate of Identity for the purpose.
Comments
0 comment