NEW DELHI, July 29 — Union Minister of State for Home Nityanand Rai introduced the Registration of Births and Deaths (Amendment) Bill, 2026, in the Lok Sabha on Wednesday, aiming to update the decades-old law governing how births and deaths are recorded across the country.
The amendment is expected to strengthen digital registration processes and improve how birth and death data feeds into other government databases, building on earlier reforms that made the birth certificate a single document usable for admissions, passports, driving licences, voter registration and other purposes. The original Registration of Births and Deaths Act dates back to 1969, and the government has periodically updated it to keep pace with digitisation drives.
The bill will now go through debate and, depending on Parliament's schedule, could be referred to a standing committee for detailed examination before passage. Officials say the changes are meant to close gaps in real-time reporting, particularly in rural areas where registration delays remain common.
For polity and governance sections, aspirants should track this bill's key provisions once passed, along with the parent legislation's year (1969) and the ministry piloting it (Home Affairs).