News Excerpt:
When registering the birth of a child, parents will now be required to separately record the religion of both the child’s father and mother, in a departure from the existing 'religion of the family' declaration, according to Model Rules drafted by the Union Ministry of Home Affairs.
Proposed Changes:
- The proposed “Form No.1-Birth Report” will expand the column requiring a tick mark selection “for religion” of the child to now also state the “religion of father” and “religion of mother”.
- Similar changes have been made for parents of an adopted child.
- The new Model Rules need to be adopted and notified by State governments before implementation.
Registration of Births and Deaths (Amendment) Act, 2023:
- According to the Registration of Births and Deaths (Amendment) Act, 2023, passed by the Parliament last year, the birth and death database will be maintained at the national level.
- The Act became effective on October 1, 2023.
- The law also facilitates the insertion of provisions for digital registration and electronic delivery of birth and death certificates.
- As per the Act, all reported births and deaths in the country are to be digitally registered through the Centre’s portal for the Civil Registration System (crsorgi.gov.in).
- The digital birth certificates issued under this system will become a single document to prove the date of birth for various services, including admission to educational institutions.
National database:
- According to the 2023 amendment, the Registrar General of India (RGI) shall maintain the database of registered births and deaths at the national level.
- The database may be used to update the National Population Register (NPR), electoral rolls, Aadhaar number, ration card, passport, driving licence, property registration, and such other databases as may be notified.
- It is obligatory for the Chief Registrars and the Registrars to share the data of registered births and deaths to such a database.
- According to the 1969 Act — the Registration of Births and Deaths Act, 1969 — the RGI has been empowered to take steps to coordinate and unify the activities of Chief Registrars, whom State governments appoint.
- Civil Registration System (CRS) functionaries are appointed up to the panchayat level.
Related Report:
- The CRS data is used to compile the annual ‘Vital Statistics of India Based On The Civil Registration System’ report.
- The report makes public the data regarding sex ratio at birth, infant mortality, stillbirths and deaths, at the national level.
- Such data is used by the government for socio-economic planning and to evaluate the effectiveness of various social sector programmes; it also serves as the cornerstone of the public health system.
