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From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level : NPR, NRC
Mains level : Read the attached story
The Central government proposes to make birth certificates a mandatory document for almost every sphere of life — admission in educational institutions, inclusion in the voter list, appointment in Central and State government jobs, issue of driving licence and passport.
Why in news?
- These changes are proposed in the draft Bill to amend the Registration of Birth and Death (RBD) Act, 1969.
Registration of Births and Deaths Act (RBD), 1969
- The registration of births, deaths and stillbirths are compulsory under the provisions of RBD Act in all parts of the Country.
- The normal period of 21 days (from the date of occurrence) has been prescribed for reporting the birth, death and stillbirth events.
- Registration of birth and death is already compulsory under the RBD Act, 1969 and violating it is a punishable offence.
Why need amendment?
- The database may be used to update the Population Register and the electoral register, and Aadhaar, ration card, passport and driving licence databases after the amendment.
- Presently, the registration of births and deaths is done by the local registrar appointed by States.
What are the proposed amendments?
Ans. Unified Database of Birth and Death
- It is proposed that the Chief Registrar (appointed by the States) would maintain a unified database at the State level.
- It would then integrate it with the data at the “national level,” maintained by the Registrar General of India (RGI).
- The amendments will imply that the Centre will be a parallel repository of data.
- It shall be mandatory for hospitals and medical institutions to provide a copy of all death certificates, stating the cause of death, to the local registrar apart from the relative of the deceased.
Significance of the database
- It would help update:
- Population Register prepared under the Citizenship Act, 1955;
- Electoral registers or electoral rolls prepared under the Representation of the People Act, 1951
- Aadhaar database prepared under the Aadhaar Act, 2016;
- Ration card database prepared under the National Food Security Act, 2013;
- Passport database prepared under the Passport Act; and
- Driving licence database under the Motor Vehicles (Amendment) Act, 2019, and
- Other databases at the national level are subject to provisons of Section 17 (1) of the RBD Act, 1969
What are the newly proposed changes?
- The centrally-stored birth/death data will be updated in real-time without any human interface required.
- This would lead to addition and deletion from the electoral roll when an individual turns 18, and after death, respectively.
Why such move?
- The government intends to improve compliance by making the registration mandatory to avail basic services such as admission in schools and registration of marriages.
- Provisions exist for compulsory registration of births and deaths but after the law is amended, it will be