Registration of Births and Deaths (Amendment) Bill, 2023
Context:
The Lok Sabha has recently passed the Registration of Births and Deaths (Amendment) Bill, 2023 that paves the way for digital birth certificates.
About the bill:
The Bill aims to create a centralised database for deaths and births to help in transparent delivery of public services and to update other databases.
It proposes the appointment of special “sub-registrars” in case of disasters or epidemics for easier registration of deaths and issuance of certificates and to collect Aadhaar numbers of informants and parents in case of registering births
The bill proposes the use of a birth certificate as a single document to be used for admission to educational institutions, applications for driving licences, government jobs, passports or Aadhaar, voter enrolment, and registration of marriage, among others.
Significance:
This will avoid the need for a multiplicity of documents to prove date and place of birth in the country.
The bill will also help create a state, and national, level database of registered births and deaths.