The gaps in the Births and Deaths Registration (Amendment) Act

The Registration of Births and Deaths Act, 1969 provides for compulsory registration of births and deaths under a uniform law across India. One of the major objectives that has been stated in the ‘Statement of Objects and Reasons’ attached to the Bill is “to create a National and State level database of registered births and deaths which would help in updating other databases resulting in efficient and transparent delivery of public services and social benefits”. Building databases For this purpose, the Bill makes it compulsory that the Registrar General of India maintains a national level database of births and deaths, and that the Chief Registrar of births and deaths in every State is required to maintain a State-level database of registered births and deaths ‘using the portal approved by the Registrar General of India’. It is provided that this database at the central level be made available to authorities dealing with the maintenance and preparation of databases relating to the population register, electoral rolls, Aadhaar number, ration card, passport, driving licence, property registration and such other databases at the national level, as may be notified. These are contradictory as the cause of death in the death register is taken from the same cause of death certificate issued by the medical practitioner Birth and death certificates It is provided that the birth certificate alone would be accepted as proof of date and place of birth for many purposes such as school admission, issue of passport, and issue of Aadhaar number.