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NEW DELHI: Passports will now go bilingual and be in both Hindi and English, instead of just English, said external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj on Friday.

Swaraj said there would be a 10% reduction in passport fee for applicants under eight and over 60 and that ration cards could be submitted while applying for tatkal passports. The second option would greatly help people in rural areas who do not have a PAN card.

Personal details in passports are now printed only in English. “Passports should at least be bilingual. All Arab countries have their passports in Arabic, Germany makes it in German, and Russia makes it in Russian. Why can’t we make it Hindi?” she asked. “Now, we have given an order to Nashik Printing Press that passports should be (printed) in Hindi as well. So you will receive passports in Hindi and English,” Swaraj said at an event to mark 50 years of the Passport Act, 1967.