Centre to seek passage of amendments to Registration of Births & Deaths Act, Cinematograph Act in LS today

New Delhi, July 31: The central government on Monday will seek Lok Sabha's nod to get the Registration of Births and Deaths (Amendment) Bill, 2023 and the Cinematograph (Amendment) Bill, 2023 passed.

The Registration of Births and Deaths (Amendment) Bill, 2023 seeks to amend the Registration of Births and Deaths Act,1969.

Last week when the Bill was introduced in the Lok Sabha, Congress MP Manish Tewari had opposed its introduction.

Tewari had said that he was opposing the Bill for want of legislative competence on three counts. 

First, it transgresses on the right to privacy, second, it transgresses on the right to the separation of powers, and third, it suffers from the malady of excessive delegation.

“These are my three fundamental objections (to the bill),” the Congress lawmaker had said.

The Bill seeks to insert provisions for digital registration and electronic delivery of certificates of births and deaths for the benefit of the public at large.

It also aims to create a national and state level database of registered births and deaths, which would help in updating other databases resulting in efficient and transparent delivery of public services and social benefits.

The proposed legislation also seeks to allow the birth certificate as a single document to prove the date and place of birth of a person born on or after the date of commencement of the legislation, for admission to an educational institution, issuance of a driving licence, preparation of a voter list, registration of a marriage, and for appointment to a post in central or state government.

The Bill also seeks to facilitate the registration process of adopted, orphan, abandoned, surrendered, surrogate child and child to a single parent or unwed mother.

It also aims to make it mandatory for all medical institutions to provide a certificate as to the cause of death to the registrar and a copy of the same to the nearest relative.

The legislation also aims to collect Aadhaar numbers of parents and informants.

Lok Sabha will also seek passage of the Cinematograph (Amendment) Bill, 2023.

The Bill further seeks to amend the Cinematograph Act, 1952, as passed by the Rajya Sabha.

The Bill seeks to crack a whip on film piracy and aims to give more powers to the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) to issue separate certificates for a film’s exhibition on television or any other media.

It also entails a three-year jail term and a fine of up to 5 per cent of a film’s production cost for those making its pirated copies. 

It also introduces three certifications under the ‘UA’ category, UA 7 , UA 13 and UA 16 , which means that children younger than the given age limits can access such movies with parental guidance.