The government has taken steps to make it easier for people to obtain passports and has decided to introduce e-passports for diplomats and officials by the end of this year, External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee told on Wednesday.

The government has decided to introduce e-passports, also known as bio-metric passports, initially for diplomats and officials as a pilot project by the end of 2007, Mukherjee said in response to another question. Based on the success of this pilot project, the government is considering introducing e-passports in the ordinary category by the end of 2008, the minister said.

The overall thrust of the government is to bring about more transparency in passport offices by computerization, introduction of online registration, tele-inquiry and the strengthening of grievance redressal mechanism, he said.