The Lok Sabha on Tuesday, August 2, passed the Registration of Births and Deaths (Amendment) Bill, 2023. The legislation aims to create a database recording all registered births and deaths, which the government dubs as the ‘next step to digitize governance’.
The Bill comes as the first-ever amendment to over 50-year-old Registration of Births and Deaths Bill, 1969, which dealt with the registration of births and deaths in the country. It also describes a hierarchal functions of the registrars and sub-registrars, in charge of documenting and maintain the death and births.
What the amendment entails
The bill, which was tabled by the Central government during the ongoing session of the Parliament on July 26, makes the birth certificate official single-document proof of date and place of birth of an individual born on or after the date of commencement of the Registration of Births and Deaths (Amendment) Bill, 2023.
Moreover, the birth certificate will be a mandatory document required for admission into educational institutions, issuance of Adhaar number and driver’s license, registration of marriage, preparation of voter’s list, application for jobs in state or Central government, public sector, or government-affiliated organisations, and any other purpose the Central government deems necessary.
It also requires all medical institutions to provide a certificate of death, stating the cause, to the registrar, with a copy to the nearest relative. In case of a death outside of an institution, the last doctor that had examined the deceased is required to submit the certificate of death to the registrar, to be updated to the database.
The bill also asks for the collection of Adhaar numbers of parents, for registration of births. It also aims to ‘facilitate and streamline’ the issuance of birth and death certificates by digitizing it and ensuring electronic delivery of the certificates. Additionally, the bill ought to streamline the process of registration of adopted, orphaned, abandoned, surrogate child, as well as a child of a single parent or unwed mother.
The bill also defined the hierarchy of the registrars — the registrar general of India is tasked with maintaining the database of registered deaths and births at the National level. While the chief registrar is obligated to maintain the database at the state level, using the portal approved by the registrar general.
Furthermore, the amendment states that the database of registered deaths and births will be shared with authorities maintaining population register, electoral rolls, Adhaar, ration card, passport, license, property registration and other databases at the national level.
Privacy concerns mount
While keeping up with conforming to the latest technology is essential in this fast-paced world, it is equally important to ensure the safety and privacy of the citizens of the country.
Concerns have already been raised in courts regarding the use of Adhaar in multiple databases, potentially putting at risk the privacy of citizens. As it potentially violates Section 29 of the Aadhaar Act, which restricts sharing of information for any purpose other than generation of Aadhaar numbers and authentication.
The compulsion to present the birth certificate to access basic necessities is unfair to the citizens and gives them very little control over their privacy, threatening to violate their fundamental rights.
The possibility of disproportionate or biased use of the databases to target any individual or a group has alarmed many privacy advocates and human rights activists.
‘Backdoor NRC’
The Registration of Births and Deaths (Amendment) Bill, 2023, was passed amid protests from the Opposition leaders. Speaking in Lok Sabha, AIMIM chief and Hyderabad MP Asaduddin Owaisi likened the propositions mentioned in the bill to the National Registry of Citizens (NRC). He said the government was trying to bring NRC through the backdoor by passing the amendment bill.
Calling the government a ‘Jhaanku uncle’ (peeping Tom), he said, “The government feels entitled to collect our personal and private data and use it for its own end. But when members sought the data for COVID-related deaths, the government said they had no data available.”
Talking about the centralised database, Owaisi said that it could be used to create mass surveillance infrastructure, which can be used against citizens, discriminatorily. “The government can target and delete genuine voters thereby creating an exclusive criteria for the 2026 delimitation exercise,” he added.
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