Lok Sabha passes bill that will enable digital birth certificates

The Lok Sabha passed the Registration of Births and Deaths (Amendment) Bill, 2023 that paves the way for digital birth certificates

The Lok Sabha on August 1 passed the Registration of Births and Deaths (Amendment) Bill, 2023 that paves the way for digital birth certificates which will be 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.

This will “avoid the need for a multiplicity of documents to prove date and place of birth in the country,” the statement said. 

Also read: Explained | Proposed amendments to the Registration of Births and Deaths Act

Minister of State for Home Nityanand Rai said that all States had consented to the provisions of the legislation that was also made available for consultation. 

Mr. Rai said the centralised database is to ensure service delivery to people. 

As reported first by The Hindu, the database will also update the National Population Register, ration cards and property registration. 

NPR, first collected data in 2010 and updated in 2015 through door-to-door enumeration. It already has a database of 119 crore residents. NPR is the first step to the creation of National Register of Citizens (NPR), per Citizenship Act.