Image Courtesy: indiatoday.in
Activist Saket Gokhale has filed an application under the Right to Information Act (RTI) asking the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) about the number of birth certificates digitized so far. Gokhale says this information is important amidst concerns of a National Register of Indian Citizens (NRIC) that has been hinted at by the government in wake of the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA).
In a series of tweets Gokhale says, “Here’s a legal way of stalling the roll-out of the NRC: I’ve filed an RTI with the MEITY (which runs the Digital India program) asking how many birth certificates have been digitized across various states under this program. I’ve also asked from which year digitization has been done.”
He asks, “Birth certificate is a conclusive proof of citizenship for the NRC according to the govt. However, if the govt. itself doesn’t have digitized copies of birth certificates, how will it give duplicate copies to those that have lost it/don’t have it?”
Gokhale adds, “I’ll be filing a similar request with the Maharashtra Govt.” He recommends his followers try the same, “What I’d like from some of u is to file a similar request with ur respective state govt. If the govt. doesn’t have ALL birth certificates digitized, there’s no way it can expect citizens to have a copy.”
Expalining the rationale behind his RTI application, Gokhalae tweets, “Reply to this request allows us to approach High Courts praying for a writ directing state govts. to digitize ALL birth certificates. And after this is done, we bring up the issue of unregistered births/home births for which people have no proof. The govt. must first devise a policy to ensure that these people aren’t left out.”
He concludes with, “And until all this is complete, we will pray for a complete stay on NRC since citizens need access to a copy of their birth certificate. Will do EVERYTHING possible to fight and ensure that the draconian NRC is stalled indefinitely.”
A copy of Gokhale’s application may be viewed here:
SabrangIndia’s sister organisation Citizens for Justice and Peace (CJP) that has been running a campaign for over a year to help Indian citizens in Assam navigate the tortuous processes involved in the update of the National Register of Citizens (NRC), has reported previously about how documentary proof of citizenship is actually a conspiracy of exclusion.
When it comes to birth certificates, it is important to note that the Registration of Births and Deaths Act was enacted in 1969. This act made it compulsory to register all births. However, according to UNICEF, “The current registration level of births and deaths in the country is about 58% for births and 54% for deaths. Each year about 42% of births go unregistered, which is about 10 million births.” Now if this is the case today, imagine what it was like back in the time of our parents and grandparents! Will they declare people ‘infiltrators’ or ‘non-citizens’ in case their parents don’t have birth certificates?