Birth and Death Registration Act

The Birth and Death Registration Act, 2004 has made registration of all births and deaths mandatory. Under this law, the Birth and Death Registration Act of 1873 was repealed wholly, and Birth, Death and Marriage Registration Act of 1886 was partially repealed. Birth certificates will now have to be shown for passport, marriage registration, admission to schools, government and private sector jobs, driving license, enrolment of names in voter lists, and for land registration. The parents or a guardian will have to register a birth within 45 days. For a death, the registration will have to be done within 30 days by the deceased's son or daughter or guardian. If the mandatory registration does not take place in due time, alate registrationwill still be possible with 'stipulated procedures and extra fees'. Punishment for violation will be a fine of Tk.500/- or a maximum two months of jail or both.

Like many other similar laws for registration of births and deaths, this new law is also likely to be a failure. Following are some of the lapses in the new law that I can foresee:

(a) Local self-government bodies under M/O LGRD are not very efficient or effective organisations, and are particularly known for their lethargy and inefficiency. As under previous laws, there will be a good deal of corruption in issuing 'post-dated birth certificates'.

(b) There is no provision for a Central Registrar of Births and Deaths for the whole country, as is provided for in most countries, which are recognised as keepers of reliable vital statistics. Since registration certificates will be issued by thousands of autonomous bodies without any connections or exchange of info between them, and since there will be no agency for collecting and collating the info centrally, there will be no ready-made regional or national statistics on births and deaths in the country.

(c) The punishment for violation of the law is only for those who are responsible for initial registration. No punishment is provided for actions performed later in life without a proper Birth Registration Certificate or on the basis of a false certificate. It was necessary to include punishment (even though nominal) for teachers/schools admitting students or agencies employing people without a birth certificate or with a false one.

(d) The Child Marriage Registration Act, 1929 and The Muslim Family Laws Ordinance, 1961 should also have been amended under the new law to establish linkage of minimum age of marriage with authentic birth certification. As is practised in some Muslim countries, there could be punishments

provided under those laws for Marriage Registrars registering a marriage without Birth Certificates or with a false one.

I'm afraid the revised system of birth and death registration will soon turn into another failed law.