New Delhi, Jun 25 (PTI) A clarification by the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) that the Passport is not a proof of citizenship has once again brought to the fore the need for a legal framework to provide citizens with a single document to establish they are Indians.

As of now, there is no single card -- Aadhaar, Voter card or Passport -- that acts as a definitive legal citizenship certificate in India.

The Passport has never been a citizenship proof and no new decision was taken on the document by the Narendra Modi government in the last 12 years, government sources said on Thursday.

On media reports on the MEA clarifying that a passport is a travel document and not a proof of citizenship, the sources said it was not decided on Wednesday that the Passport is not a proof of citizenship.

Here is an explainer on what establishes citizenship in India.

1. What is citizenship? Citizenship is a legal status proven by a combination of a person's birth timeline, parents' status and a set of government-issued civil records provided over the years.

2. Why do common government IDs not count? Judicial precedents clarify that India's most common identity cards are legally excluded from being standalone proofs of citizenship.

a) Passports While highly verified and issued primarily to citizens, Section 20 of the Passports Act, 1967 allows the government to issue Passports to non-citizens in exceptional cases. Thus, courts view it as powerful evidence but not legal proof.

b) Aadhaar Cards The Supreme Court and the UIDAI explicitly say that Aadhaar is a proof of residence and identity, not citizenship as non-citizen residents can legally acquire one after following the procedures.

c) Voter IDs and PAN cards A PAN card is purely a tax identifier. A Voter ID proves you are on the electoral roll, but those rolls can be re-verified on a regular basis.

An Election Commission official had recently said that people who may become part of voter list after the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls can "most definitely" be considered a citizen of India. However, possession of the card itself does not automatically settle a legal citizenship dispute under prevailing laws.

3. What Actually Proves Citizenship? India does not have a single, universal national citizenship card. Legally, citizenship is established through a set of documents depending on how you claim it.

Five ways for any person to become a citizen of India include citizenship by birth, citizenship by descent, citizenship by registration, citizenship by naturalisation and citizenship by incorporation. PTI NAB GJS GJS KSS KSS