Photographs of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina were taken by officials of the Department of Immigration and Passports (DIP) on Sunday for e-passport that will be introduced in the country on Wednesday.
DIP officials took photographs of the Prime Minister at her official residence Ganobhaban, PM’s Deputy Press KM Shakhawat Moon said.
He said the Prime Minister also put her signature digitally on a device on the occasion.
Project Director of e-passport Project Brigadier General Saidur Rahman Khan was present.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is scheduled to launch e-passport at a programme at Bangabandhu International Conference Centre (BICC) on January 22.
DIP Director General Major General Shakil Ahmed earlier told UNB that the DIP will distribute e-passport from Agargaon, Jatrabari and Uttara passport offices and later, e-passport will be distributed in phases from DIP offices across the country.
Renowned German company Veridos GmbH has been working on e-passport and e-gate in the country, he said, adding that efforts are underway to make immigration process flawless with the introduction of e-passport.
According to the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), there are more than 100 states and non-state entities (i.e. United Nations) currently issuing e-passports, and over 490 million e-passports are in circulation.
e-passports add a layer of security to traditional non electronic passports by embedding an electronic chip in the passport booklet that stores the biographical information visible on page 2 of the passport, as well as a digital security feature.
The digital security feature is a country specific “digital signature.” These digital signatures are unique to each country and can be verified using their respective certificates.
According to the project details, the project “Introduction of Bangladesh e-Passport and Automatic Border Control Management” is being implemented at a cost of Tk 4,569 crore.
The DIP is implementing the project with full government funding. A total of 30 million passports will be delivered in 10 years.
With the issuance of the e-passport the whole process of the immigration formalities will be completed through online.
It said two million e-passports will be made in Germany. As a result, the passports of those who apply first will be made from Germany. The validity of e-passport will be for five and 10 years.
The DIP and Germany Veridos signed an agreement on July 19 in 2018 for electronic passports alongside machine-readable ones.
source: UNB
