MEA's orange passport plan: Oommen Chandy condemns Centre's proposal, calls it discriminatory

Thiruvananthapuram: Former Kerala chief minister Oommen Chandy on Monday strongly condemned the proposed move by the Centre to come out with an orange colour passport for those who have not passed their Class 10 examination, calling it discriminatory. [caption id=“attachment_4204529” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] File image of former Kerala chief minister Oommen Chandy. AFP[/caption] “No way this proposal should go forward. This is creating two different types of citizens, one with education and one without, discriminating Indians based on educational qualifications,” said Chandy. “If this becomes a reality, the moment an orange colour passport holder lands in a foreign country, he will be treated with disdain and it will have a telling impact on such people’s character and individuality. This should not happen at all.” He said many of our countrymen toil hard in extreme conditions in various countries in West Asia and it’s through their hard work and their remittances that help the state and the country to progress. S Irudayarajan, head of the migration department at the Centre for Development Studies, also denounced the proposed move. “If in Kerala, according to our studies, around 15 percent of the 2.5 million Kerala diaspora haven’t qualified Class 10, in other big states it would be more than 50 percent . “Dividing citizens based on education is the last thing that should happen in our country and it should be dropped.”