Which Passport? MRP Or E-Passport
A parliamentary body yesterday asked the government to cancel the machine-readable passport (MRP) project and introduce electronic passports instead to save public money.The parliamentary standing committee on planning ministry made a set of recommendations including relocation of Kamalapur railway station to Tongi to ease gridlock in the capital. Committee Chairman Col (retd) Oli Ahmed, also chief of Liberal Democratic Party, unveiled the recommendations before reporters at his office at the Jatiya Sangsad Bhaban following a committee meeting. The parliamentary body said electronic passports will be used worldwide after machine-readable passports become invalid in 2014. It is undesirable to spend several hundred crores of taka for issuing two types of passport, it said. The Executive Committee of the National Economic Council in March approved a Tk 3.50 billion project on machine-readable passports and visa under the home ministry.The Department of Immigration and Passport under the ministry has already launched the project for issuing about 18.4 million MRPs by 2014.
Bangladesh has to introduce MRPs by April 2010 to comply with the International Civil Aviation Organisation requirements. If it fails to become an ICAO member, Bangladeshi citizens' access to the international labour market and visas could be hindered.The committee said the government would have to spend a big amount again for issuing electronic passports after the MRPs become invalid across the globe. All developed countries in the world have already introduced electronic passports.“The ministries of foreign affairs and planning will write to the home ministry soon in this regard,” the committee said.The parliamentary body asked for installation of closed-circuit cameras at airports, introduction of a uniform renewal fee for passports and their quick renewal for Bangladeshis living abroad.It also recommended simplifying the procedure of issuing diplomatic passports for lawmakers and instructing Bangladesh missions abroad to provide protocol to lawmakers and distinguished people. “It's regrettable that officials at foreign missions don't bother about anyone except the ministers and ruling party lawmakers,” the committee said.
We find the reasons given by the Parliamentary committee very convincing. We ask the government to consult local and foreign experts quickly and then decide which passport to issue, MRP or E-Passports
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