Now Reading: Birth-death amendment tightens rules, raises access fears
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Birth-death amendment tightens rules, raises access fears
The Registration of Births and Deaths (Amendment) Bill, 2026, passed by parliament last week, tightens delayed registration procedures. Births or deaths reported after a year but within two years now require verification…
The Story in Brief
The Registration of Births and Deaths (Amendment) Bill, 2026, passed by parliament last week, tightens delayed registration procedures. Births or deaths reported after a year but within two years now require verification by a district magistrate or authorised executive magistrate. For delays beyond two years, a judicial magistrate’s order is needed. The government says the law aims to prevent fraudulent certificates.
India claims near-universal registration: births rose from 86.6 per cent in 2014 to 99.1 per cent in 2024, and deaths from 72.5 per cent to 99.4 per cent. But activists warn that marginalised groups, tribal communities, migrants, the poor, face language barriers, geographic isolation, and costly court visits. The Federal reports that tribal rights activist S Balamurugan said the bill ‘passes responsibility onto people’ without fixing official errors or creating awareness.
The Indian Opinion
The headline numbers on registration are impressive, but they hide a sharper truth: how easy is it actually for a tribal hamlet or a migrant labourer to get a certificate? The new law gives magistrates and courts more say, not the local registrar. That may deter fraud, but it also punishes the poor for delays they did not choose. Instead of celebrating 99 per cent coverage, ask: what share of that is on-time, and how many now face a court order for a simple death certificate?
Source: thefederal.com
This story was synthesised by AI from the source linked above.
