People who don’t register vital events with local authority face legal hassles at all levels

Kathmandu, December 31

As per the Birth Death and Other Personal Events (registration) Act, 1976, Section four, vital events such as birth, marriage, divorce, migration and death should be registered with the Office of the local Registrar within 35 days of such events.

However, data shows that many people show no interest in registering personal events due to lack of awareness.

Due to people’s reluctance to register such vital events, many have to go through legal hassles when it comes to receiving state services and facilities.

The birth certificate is the first identity of a child and it is very important for a country to have 100 per cent record of vital events such as birth and death. Due to lack of such records, many children in the country are facing difficulty getting admission to school and registering their names for various examinations.

According to Kedar Sapkota, a representative of Department of national ID and Civil Registration, many people have not been able to enjoy the facilities given by the state as they have failed to register vital personal events with the authorities concerned. “Many people are even deprived of citizenship certificates just because their birth record is not registered with government agencies,” said Sapkota.

Sabina, a resident of Illam, was born in 2003. She is currently studying in Grade IX. She is not sure whether she will be able to continue studies as she does not have birth certificate.

Sabina was abandoned by her mother after birth. She has been living with her grandmother at her maternal home. She is compelled to study in a school which is very far from her home as the nearby school refused to give her admission for failing to produce her birth registration certificate.

“If people register vital events on time, 95 per cent problems related with citizenship certificate, school/college admission and state facilities will be solved,” said Sapkota.

Speaking at a programme organised to launch the book titled ‘Birth and Marriage Registration in Nepal’ published by Forum for Women, Law and Development, Shashi Shrestha, chairperson of State Management Committee of the Legislature Parliament, said that women and children had suffered more due to this tendency of not registering vital events with the local authority on time.