Ensure birth certificate of new-born issued to mother before discharge from hospital: Registrar General of India

The Registrar General of India (RGI) has asked all States to ensure that birth certificates are issued to mothers of new-born children before they are discharged from hospitals, particularly government run-hospitals, which account for more than 50% of institutional births in the country.

The RGI office said the registrar should give the birth certificate as soon as the registration of birth is completed “but not later than seven days” in an electronic or other format.

“You will appreciate that this office, in its endeavour of making the registration process smooth and user-friendly, has taken several steps to improve the Civil Registration System, including amendment to the Registration of Births and Deaths Act, 1969, corresponding amendment to State Registration of Births and Deaths Rules, development of a new Central CRS portal etc. In view of the increased importance of the birth certificate, it is the need of the hour that the certificate is delivered to the mother of the new-born child before her discharge from the hospital, especially by the government hospitals where more than 50% of total institutional births occur,” the June 12 letter by the RGI office said.

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It said government hospitals, community health centers and primary health centres across the country are working as registration units and the registrars of such units should be sensitised to the importance of immediate issue of birth certificate as its utility has been recently increased manifold.

From October 1, 2023, the digital birth certificate is the single document to prove the date of birth for various services such as admission to educational institutions, government jobs, marriage registration among others.

A birth certificate is issued by the registrar in accordance with Section 12 of the Registration of Births and Deaths (RBD) Act, 1969. The RBD Act, 1969 which was amended in 2023, mandates registration of all births and deaths on the Centre’s portal from October 1, 2023. Earlier, States maintained their own database and shared statistics with the RGI office under the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA).

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The centralised database will be used to update the National Population Register (NPR), ration cards, property registration and electoral rolls.

The RGI letter said these steps would bring convenience to common people and will engender goodwill.

Earlier on March 17, the RGI office cautioned private and government hospitals to report incidents of birth and death within 21 days after it was found that many medical institutions were flouting the law, adding that nearly 10% births were not getting registered.