Passport applicants, born after January 26, 1989, have to invariably procure their birth certificates through ‘Mee-seva’ and have to submit them along with their applications with effect from July 1, 2014, according to Passport Officer NLP Choudary.
The direction has been issued to eliminate the menace of fake birth certificates as many applicants were found submitting fake certificates procured through agents/touts. A penalty of Rs.5,000 was being imposed on such applicants, so far. In order to end the menace, it was decided to accept only birth certificates procured through Mee-seva, he added.
