Kathmandu, July 14 -- As the controversy surrounding the new passport procurement continues, the Department of Passports on Monday began rolling out the new passports supplied by two German firms, but the rollout was marred by massive technical glitches at the department and several district administration offices.

Foreign Minister Shisir Khanal handed over the passports to two underage Nepali players while kicking off passport distribution. However, the Department of Passports received only a few passport applications on Monday due to problems in the central passport server throughout the day.

A senior foreign ministry official said that things would have been in the right direction, if the outgoing vendor, IDEMIA had cooperated, addin...