India E Governance -

A marriage certificate is an essential document, acting as proof of the marital status of a couple. This document has many benefits associated with it, such as changing of surnames after marriage, in cases of divorce and in cases of child custody. A marriage certificate is the only legal proof of marriage in India. This document has to be registered in the civil court in order to receive a valid marriage certificate.

Marriage is a very auspicious and important event in lifespan of many individuals. It has to be legally accepted, for which marriage certificate must be applied by every couple. It also serves as an identity proof in certain cases. It is proof of mutual marital consent by both parties. There is a need for witnesses as per the type of marriage registration. Although the marriage certificate is nothing but a mere piece of paper it might come as handy in many situations.

Some important facts:

A marriage certificate is the only legal and valid proof of marriage in India. It acts as the only government-approved document about a marriage.
In the case of passport application, a marriage certificate might be required as documentary proof.
In case of opening a joint bank account by the spouses, the marriage certificate might be asked as a proof for the process.
After marriage, buying an insurance policy might also demand the marriage certificate as proof.
In cases of divorce, the main role of the marriage certificate comes forward. This proof might be the key for alimony and for asking child support payments.
In a court case about child custody, the marriage certificate is the handiest documentation required. It is the only legal proof to claim your right on the children.
In case of divorce, there might be property disputes, they can only be resolved after presenting your right on the property with the help of marriage certificate.
To update many important documents like diver’s licence, ration card and other important cards, marriage certificate might be required.
The new timeline for marriage registration is set to 60 days in New Delhi. Any carelessness might lead to high amounts of penalties or even jail.
If the registration is not done within 60 days, it might cost Rs. 10,000 of penalty in New Delhi.
During Registration, filling any false information will lead to the jail of three months, in the case of fraud in New Delhi.

Closure:

The main aim of the marriage certificate is to reduce crimes related to marriage. It also keeps a check on the child marriage cases, reducing the instances to a large ratio. The cases of bigamy and polygamy are also kept under keen observation. The disputes encircling around marriage have been more easily resolved with the help of marriage certificate. It has been made compulsory to have witnessed during a marriage registration. In the case of the special marriage act, the witnesses required are more. Any kind of redundancy in the data collection of the marriage certificate is avoided by Registrations.

A birth certificate is a legal record of the birth of an individual. It is an official document that proves the person’s existence. A new birth certificate certifies all the circumstances of birth such as the date and time of the birth of the child, a certified copy that ensures registration of birth of that child.

Documents required for registration

For the registration of birth certificate, India, the following documents are required to be submitted along with the application form –

Birth certificate of both the parents
Identity proof of the parents of the child, for verification purpose
Proof of birth of the child in the hospital
Marriage certificate of parents

If the information given in the birth certificate is false such as the date or time of birth. This is a problematic issue. It is even lost in some cases, and causes huge problems for the individual. Hence, a new birth certificate is re-issued in such a case. For re-issuing a birth certificate, the documents needed are as follows –

Applicant’s photograph to be pasted in the form
Identity proof of the applicant that can be a driving license, passport, PAN card, voter ID card etc.
Class 10th mark sheet
Proof of residence such as an electricity bill, bank passbook, gas bill, water bill etc.
An affidavit of the parents/ sibling/ close relative of the applicant, stating the accurate and correct time, date, year and place of birth of the applicant.

Birth registration facts, India

Under the Registration of Births and Deaths Act, 1969, every individual needs to get a birth certificate registered which was made compulsory for all. Even then, out of 26 million births that take place in a year, only 14 million of them are registered in India.
In states like Kerala and Goa, almost 1005 of births get registered yearly. For states like Haryana and Karnataka, approximately 75% of births are registered while in Bihar, the percentile is only about 20%.
As per the Vital Statistics of India based on the Civil Registration System, 2016, only 4.5 crore births had been registered in the years 2015-2016, whereas the total number of births that took place on record was nearly 5.2 crore.
Uttar Pradesh and Bihar stand as the two states with the lowest levels of birth registration in India.
Children who do not possess a birth certificate are more likely to be in danger of working in an unsafe environment and prone to human trafficking.
41% of the children whose mothers had no educational qualification, had their births registered, while in case of the children whose mothers had at least 12 years of education, the percentage increased up to 77%.
In one of the statements made by Yogendra Mann – director of Information and Publicity of North Delhi Municipal Corporation, it was stated that due to lack of nursing homes and hospitals in most of the rural areas, people prefer births taking place in the house, due to which they lack the awareness of birth registration.

A death certificate is an official record which specifies the death of an individual. It is a legal document that holds information about the time, date, cause of death, and other details of the deceased person. The death certificate is issued to the closest relative of the deceased person and it is compulsory to register a death within 21 days of the death. As per the Provision of Registration of Death, 1961, it is compulsory to register all deaths under the State Government.

The process of issuing a death certificate is easy if all the steps are followed correctly.

How to apply online?

To make the process much easier, an online system is available to register deaths in India. The protocol to apply online for death certificate registration is as follows –

The applicant must visit the official website of Municipal Corporation and log in to the web portal.
Next, select the applicant should select their district. For example, for people applying from Delhi, they need to select their region such as North Delhi, South Delhi etc.
Once the area/district has been selected, click on the ‘registration of births and deaths’ option.
Select the option of ‘registration by the empanelled institutions’ available on the webpage.
The application form for death registration will appear on the screen. The applicant must fill in all the details correctly.
Once completed, click on the ‘submit’ option.
An online payment will have to be made of Rs.21 by the applicant once the form is filled. The payment can be made online via net banking, debit or credit cards.
Finally, download the online death certificate.

However, some people still do not have internet access in India and so, the online process is of no use to them. In such a situation, applicants can always follow the offline process for issuing a death certificate.

What is the offline process for death certificate registration?

In order to issue a death certificate by the offline process, one must follow these steps –

The applicant must fill the application form for death registration that can either be downloaded online (if the person has access to the internet), or it is available at the concerned local authorities.
The form should be submitted along with important documents such as the Birth Certificate of the deceased person, Aadhar Card, affidavit specifying the place, date and time of death etc.
The registrar responsible for the registration of deaths of the applicant’s state/district, will have to verify all the documents and the application form.
A certain amount of fee will have to be submitted to the operator who will then, give an application and transaction ID to the applicant.
Once the application process is completed, the applicant will receive a confirmation on their registered mobile number.
After approximately 5 days of application submission, the applicant shall receive the death certificate on complete verification.

Some facts –

In 2001, the level of registration countrywide, was approximately 52%. By the year 2010, this number increased to almost 70%.
The infant mortality rate in the rural areas was comparatively less than in urban areas.
2.7 million Of deaths were registered in 1981, and in 2010 the number increased to 5.7 million which is almost double the number. This shows an improvement in the number of deaths registered in India.