In this Mosoon Session, the Lok Sabha passed the Registration Of Births and Deaths (Amendment) Bill, 2023,.

The Bill was introduced in Lok Sabha on July 26. The Bill seeks to amend the Registration of Births and Deaths Act, 1969 for the first time.

According to its “Statement of Objects and Reasons”, the Bill seeks 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.

bill that allows the use of a birth certificate as a single document for admission to an educational institution, issuance of driving licence, preparation of voter list, Aadhaar number, registration of marriage or appointment to a government job.

The Registration of Births and Deaths (Amendment) Bill, 2023 will also help create a national and state-level database of registered births and deaths which eventually would ensure efficient and transparent delivery of public services and social benefits and digital registration, Union Minister of State for Home Nityanand Rai said responding to a brief debate on the bill in Lok Sabha.

The bill was passed amid vociferous protests by the opposition on the ethnic violence in Manipur and demands for a statement by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Parliament.

The bill will facilitate insertion of provisions for digital registration and electronic delivery of certificate of births and deaths for the benefit of the public at large, 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.

The legislation will provide for use of the birth certificate as a single document to prove the date and place of birth of a person born on or after the date of commencement of the Registration of Births and Deaths (Amendment) Act, 2023, for admission to an educational institution, issuance of a driving licence, preparation of a voter list, registration of a marriage, appointment to a post in central or state government or a local body or public sector undertaking or in any statutory or autonomous body under the central or state government.

It will provide for issuance of a passport, issuance of an Aadhaar number and any other purpose as may be determined by the central government in order to enhance the public convenience and to avoid multiplicity of documents to prove date and place of birth in the country, according to the statement of objects and reasons.

The bill provides for facilitating registration process of adopted, orphan, abandoned, surrendered, surrogate child and child to a single parent or unwed mother, to make it mandatory for all medical institutions to provide a certificate as to the cause of death to the registrar and a copy of the same to the nearest relative.