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2009

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Birth and Death Registration Act and name of citizen

M S Siddiqui

Name is the most important possession of an individual that

identifies him or her. We are all known, identified and represented
by our names. And there should no mistake in spelling and
pronunciation of the name of a person which is determined by
parents or relatives who christen him or her or the person himself or
herself. Usually, each and every name has a meaning. The name
differs according to culture, creed, religion, language etc.

Article 7 of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, an

international charter spelling out the civil, political, economic, social
and cultural rights of the children, states 'The child shall be
registered immediately after birth and shall have the right from birth
to a name, the right to acquire a nationality and, as far as possible,
the right to know and be cared for by his or her parents.'
Bangladesh ratified the Convention in early 1990s. It is a legally
binding instrument for Bangladesh now.

The citizens of Bangladesh have an inclination to name the child

after meaningful words available in the holy Quran, with first name
being Mohammad, signifying the person is a follower of Phophet
Mohammad (SM). Muslims are most probably the only religious
community having the most of their first names after their holy
prophet. Thus a highest number of the world population today have
Mohammad as the first name. There may be some regional or
cultural deviation but the name indicates the religious faith and
identity of the person carrying the name.

In most of the western culture, the given name precedes the family
name while in some other cultures they place it after the family
name, or use no family name al all. Usually, family name is the
name used by all members of a family.

Hindu community have their name indicating the status of their cast
and profession. There are some Muslims who use family name
before or after the given name. According to religious faith, all
Muslims have the equal status in the society and to the almighty,
although some of the Muslims are proud of their family names,
claiming aristocracy or higher status.

The birth registration with relevant departments is the first official

acknowledgment of the child's existence by state. Until recent past,
Death Registration Act 1873 which was framed in colonial British
times, though its actual implementation was almost non-existent; or
we may say registration of birth and death under the law was rather
optional.

In December 2004, the Parliament of Bangladesh promulgated the

Birth and Death Registration Act 2004 and forwarded the same to
the Ministry of Local Government to prepare detailed modalities and
implementation procedures and asked them to issue a Gazette
notification in this regard.

UNICEF, the UN children's agency, supported the Ministry of Local

Government to prepare detailed modalities and procedures, giving
technical support to the concerned government departments to
enable them to provide better and accurate birth registration service
to the citizens. It is expected that efficient birth registration
modalities should enable parents and guardians to easily get their
children's birth registered in a proper and timely manner. Besides,
UNICEF and other NGOs like Plan Bangladesh also supported the
Ministry of Local Government to develop a public awareness
campaign on birth registration and child rights.

The government declared 3rd July 2006 as Birth Registration Day to

highlight the importance of birth registration for every child and adult
in the country. This is part of the national strategy to achieve
Universal Birth Registration in line with the Births and Deaths
Registration Act which entered into force in 2004.

The Births and Deaths Registration Act provided for free birth
registration for all persons born in Bangladesh up to 2 July 2008.
According to the Act, birth certificates would be compulsory to
obtain access to sixteen essential services such as issuance of
passports, marriage registration and admission to educational
institutions etc.

Bangladesh Election Commission has already issued national ID

cards to more than 80 million voters or 100 percent of the adults
and 52 percent of the total population. Unfortunately they issued ID
cards on the basis of filled application forms without any supporting
documents, although as per birth registration act the voter or
national ID cards should be in line with birth registration. The
concern may be not violation of law but the probable confusion with
regard to different data in two important documents.

According to the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS), only one

out of 10 children under 5 had been registered in 2006. Recent
report from the Local Government Division shows that 40 percent of
the total population had received a birth certificate by the end of
March 2008. The government's objective is to lift this figure
substantially, with support from development partners such as
UNICEF and Plan Bangladesh.

For many years and unfortunately till date, the SSC certificate was
considered as a valid document for name and date of birth of a
person, despite the existence of the Birth Registration Act of 2004
as per rule and convention. As per government service rules, the
first declaration to the government or certificate issued by local