The work of taking suggestions on amendment in the Birth-Death Registration Act is complete, now the bill will go to the cabinet
In the era of digitization, now the country is getting ready for ‘One Nation-One Data’. The Central Government has almost completed the process of amending the Birth-Death Registration Act, 1969. The Center had shared the draft of the amended law in the public domain for public’s suggestions. The last date for making suggestions was November 17. Now the bill will go to the cabinet. There are indications that the new law will come into force before the census begins in 2022. After the amendment, this law will become effective in every state on the same date.
After the implementation of the new law, not only will the complete data of births and deaths be stored at the central level, but on the basis of this data, other databases including NPR, Aadhaar, driving license and passport will also be updated. After the new law, the format of birth-death registration will become one in the whole country. At present, this data and the certificate issued is different in each state. Along with this, the work of bringing this data in digital form will also be started at the state level itself. The government will update the rest of its database through this data. Its direct benefit will be that the monitoring of eligible people of central schemes will be done at the central level.
New law will bring 4 big changes
- Communication with the government: Now the government itself will contact the eligible people for social security schemes. There will be monitoring when who becomes eligible.
- NPR uninterrupted: Last time 12 states had refused to be part of NPR due to the data being with the states. Will no longer be dependent on them.
- Database will be clear: New Aadhar, license etc. are generated for those born now, but after death this card cannot be closed. Now the data of those who died will be deleted.
- No Census: The Census of 2022 will probably be the last. Now the wait of 10 years for the data will end. Every month all the data will be updated. This is an important step towards digitizing the entire database. Right now the state manuals keep the figures. Every state will now have to digitize these figures. This will make the entire process online very soon. At present, these figures go to the Center in the form of annual reports from the states. At least a year later the picture comes to the fore. After the implementation of the new law, a time will come that as soon as the birth and death data is recorded in the states, this data will automatically be updated with the center itself. How will this coordination be done?
- The chief registrar appointed by the state government in each state will have to keep the unified data in the format decided by the center and send it to the registrar general of India at the centre.
▪️What will change because of the new law? ▪️What will be the changes in the law of birth and death registration? ▪️What will be the benefit of having a database at the center?
There are many different types of cards. These include Aadhar, License, Passport, Ration Card, Voter Proof etc. This database is continuously growing. But the cards remain active even after someone dies. This increases the risk of data accumulation and misuse. With fresh data at the central level, the data of the dead will be removed from the entire base. What effect will this have on the census?
The new law will end the 10-year wait for the census. The complete picture of the population will be with the center every month. However it will take time for this to happen. Census 2022 will be done through due process, although data collection will become easier. What are the brand new provisions in the law?
This includes the provision of recognition through a central law to the certificates of orphans, abandoned or adopted children on the street. What registration?is the process change for the public?
In the earlier law, there was a provision that proof of birth or death should be taken at the earliest by giving information. In the amended proposed law, this time period has been kept at 7 days. After that you will get a conditional certificate. What is the biggest change the government wants from the law?
After having a database of citizens at the central level, the government will be able to directly monitor the eligible person of any scheme or facility. For example, when a teenager is going to be 18 years old due to the correct birth data, then alerts will be started on his mobile that he should now enroll his name in the voter list.
