The Gaps In The Births And Deaths Registration (Amendment) Act

Context:-After being approved by the President of India, the Registration of Births and Deaths (Amendment) Bill, 2023, was passed by the Indian Parliament.

About:-

• The birth and death,1969 Act will be modified by the Registration of Births and Deaths (Amendment) Bill, 2023.
• On July 26, 2023, it was introduced in Lok Sabha.  
• The Registration of Birth and Deaths (RBD) legislation of 1969 establishes a uniform legal need for birth and death registration across India, and a new modification to this legislation has recently received the president’s approval.
• According to the provisions of the RBD Act, the State governments are in charge of keeping records of births and deaths.
• To complete the necessary tasks, an organised hierarchy of officials works at various levels within districts and lower administrative divisions.
• According to the RBD Act, the Registrar General of India (RGI) is in charge of coordinating and streamlining the RBD Act’s application across the country.

Objective:-

To establish a national and state-level birth and death registration database that would assist in updating other databases and enable the efficient and transparent provision of public benefits and services.

A nationwide database of births and deaths must be kept up to date by the Registrar General of India as a requirement of the bill.

Features:-

National database:-

• Except for specific data items that some States may have in excess of the national standards mandated by the Registrar General of India, the national database will be a compilation of State-level databases.
• If the organisations in charge of other databases need data on births and deaths.

Integration of Adhar:-

• The amendment does not include any provisions for recording the Aadhaar numbers of the deceased. It only requires the gathering of the parents’ Aadhaar numbers for documenting births.
• It would be challenging to accomplish the national goal of effective service delivery without regular updating of the deceased’s Aadhaar details.

Birth and Death certificate:-

Birth certificate:-

The amendment stipulates that the birth certificate will be accepted as enough documentation for a range of situations, including applying for a passport and getting an Aadhaar number as well as admission to schools.

Death certificate:-

If it could be presumed that a person would have perished in an accident or natural disaster, the amendment might have added a clause allowing for the registration of a “presumed death.”

Currently, it takes the family about seven years to obtain them.

Cause of death certificate:-

• For deaths that take place in medical facilities, the amendment adds a necessity for a cause-of-death certificate.
• A certificate stating the cause of death must be provided by all medical facilities to the Registrar and a copy must be given to the closest relatives
• The certificate must be provided by the doctor who most recently treated the patient, nevertheless, in the case of deaths that happen outside of a hospital.

Concern about the law:-

• Before the patient passed away, the doctor might not have had a firm diagnosis
• The cause of death recorded if the dead was treated by an AYUSH practitioner might not be useful for cause of death data since it might not be able to be classified in accordance with WHO and the International Classification of Diseases rules.
• It may be challenging for the doctor to submit such a report if the dead died from an incident unconnected to his care.

Issues:-

• It exposes victims to exploitation at the hands of those who help with registration.
• India lacks a reliable security surveillance system, and the lack of a data bill is of concern.
• Later additions to the list could be more dangerous than those that were initially mentioned and given Parliament’s approval.

Conclusion:-

Effective implementation strategies should be developed to maximise the potential benefits of the Registration of Births and Deaths (Amendment) Bill, 2023. 

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