The Centre has allowed the Office of Registrar General of India (RGI) to perform Aadhaar authentication during registration of births and deaths in the country.
However, Aadhaar is not mandatory for such registration.
A gazette notification published on June 27, 2023 said the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MEiTY) has allowed the RGI office to use the Aadhaar database for authenticating the identity details provided during registration of births and deaths.
It said that the Registrar appointed under the Registration of Birth and Death Act, 1969 “shall be allowed to perform Yes or No Aadhaar authentication, on voluntary basis, for verification of Aadhaar number being collected along with other details as sought in the reporting forms of births or deaths, as the case may be, for the purpose of establishing the identity of child, parent and the informant in case of births, and of the parent, spouse and the informant in case of deaths during registration of births or deaths”.
The State governments and Union Territory administrations shall adhere to the guidelines with respect to the use of Aadhaar authentication as laid down by MEiTY.
In 2020, MEiTY notified rules stating that the Central government may allow Aadhaar authentication by requesting entities in the interest of good governance, prevention of leakage of public funds and to promote ease of living.
As per norms, the Ministry or State governments desirous of utilising Aadhaar authentication shall prepare a proposal to justify such authentication and submit it to the Central government for making a reference to the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI).
