Fake: Modi government has not removed nationality claim from Indian passports

New Delhi, Jan 09: Has the Indian government removed the column for nationality in the Indian passports.

A claim to this effect has gone viral on the social media. The message in Hindi which is also being circulated on WhatsApp says, "Legal update. Modi government has removed the Nationality column from Indian passports. Please make sure, you do not destroy or lose your old passports. This message has been sent out by one Syed Etemad Uddin, who says he is an advocate.

The Ministry of External Affairs which is responsible for the issuance of passports in India has refuted this claim. OneIndia confirmed with MEA sources, who said that the nationality claim is maintained in every travel document, including the Indian passport. The message in circulation is fake and mischievous, the source also said.

We also checked for various news reports regarding this claim. There is not a single news report that says that the nationality claim has been removed from the passports. Further on checking the website of the Passport Seva Kendra, we did not find any notification that says that the nationality claim has been removed.

Hence the claim being made it fake the nationality claim in the passports remain.