Birth registration woes leave thousands in limbo

Bithi Akhter stood outside the office of Dhaka North City Corporation Ward No 44 in Uttarkhan, waiting to collect her son's birth certificate. But for the second time, she returned home empty-handed. 

"They told me to come back another day because the officer was unavailable. But no one could tell me when I should return," she said, visibly frustrated.

According to the Office of the Registrar General, Birth and Death Registration, more than half the children under five years of age in Bangladesh do not have their births registered. 

This poses a dilemma since the government made online birth registration mandatory for all citizens from January 2021 in order to avail 18 types of public services, including enrollment in educational institutions, registration for secondary school certificate examinations, and applications for passports and driving licences.

On paper, registration within 45 days of birth requires no fees and for certificates acquired between 45 days and five years, the fee is Tk 25. However, applicants who follow due process and do not seek assistance from brokers often do not get their certificates on time. 

Dr Sadik Hasan, professor of Public Administration, Dhaka University, explained that the root cause of the issue lies in the dismissal of local government representatives in over 300 municipalities and 12 city corporations following the fall of the Awami League regime. "The government has assigned city corporation executives and BCS officers to handle these responsibilities, but the workload is overwhelming."

The problem persists in rural areas too. 

Nazil Ahmed, a resident of Hadal union in Faridpur upazila, went to apply for a passport as he planned to go to the UK for studies. However, when he went to the passport office, he learned that his current birth certificate was invalid. He then approached his local union parishad to obtain a digital version, but they told him that the server was down. 

"The union parishad secretary, Md Sahidul Islam, gave me a form and told me to fill it out and come back another day. After this, I went there three more times, but nothing has happened," he said. 

It took 47 days for him to finally get his birth certificate. The delay forced him to miss an intake, putting his study plans on hold for another six months.

Md Sahidul Islam acknowledged the issue but added that the Union Chairman Selim Reza had fled after 5 August. As a result, the Upazila Nirbahi Officer (UNO) had taken over the responsibilities and now authorises all government documentation. 

"The UNO visits once a week to sign the certificates. That's why the delays are occurring," he explained.

On top of that, technical issues further complicate the process. Birth registration service servers frequently remain down due to technical problems or too much traffic. 

Kazi Abid Hasan, a resident of Dhanmondi 27, shared, "I have tried for a month to access the website but was unsuccessful. So to avoid this hassle, I paid a broker Tk2,000 to get my daughter's birth certificate."

The birth registration process was completely halted for the entire month of August 2024, creating further backlog. And frequent server outages add to the problem. 

The online application process is no less problematic. Those born after 2001 must have their parents' birth certificates registered online before they can apply for their own. 

Abdul Hai, a resident of Savar Union, shared his frustration. "My son was born on 12 February this year. I visited the online birth registration portal to apply for his birth certificate registration, but I discovered that both my wife and I needed our own digital certificates first."

He then applied for his and his wife's birth certificates. "Since there is no union chairman, our applications are on hold. I don't know when we will get our certificates or when we can apply for our son's. The process is frustrating and too lengthy." 

Dr Sadik Hasan, professor of Public Administration at Dhaka University, explained that the root cause of the issue lies in the dismissal of local government representatives in over 300 municipalities and 12 city corporations following the fall of the Awami League regime on 5 August last year. 

"This includes city corporation mayors, councillors, upazila chairmen, union chairmen, and municipality mayors. The government has assigned city corporation executives and BCS officers to handle these responsibilities, but the workload is overwhelming. They simply cannot be everywhere at once," he said. 

He also pointed out, "Rather than dismissing all public representatives linked to Awami League, the current government should only dismiss those with pending complaints and legal cases. This would ensure better public service and lessen delays. Maybe they should reconsider and bring back the ones who have a clean background."

Dr Sadik also suggested that the birth certificate delivery system should follow the model of the National Identity Card (NID) system. 

"NID services allow citizens to track their application status online, make changes digitally, and receive timely updates. In contrast, birth certificates require applicants to visit government offices multiple times. The government should integrate a system similar to NID services to organise the process," he said.

Dr Mohammad Kamrul Hasan, deputy secretary at the Ministry of Public Administration, agreed that the current workload on local administrative officials is unsustainable. 

"For example, an upazila may have 10 unions, each with its own chairman. But now, a single UNO is responsible for all of them. That is why delays are occurring."

He pointed out that digitalisation is the solution. 

"If people could apply online, upload documents, and receive a notification when their certificates are ready, it would eliminate much of the hassle. Human presence in the application process only adds unnecessary complexity and delays."

Meanwhile, the government has proposed a new system to organise these registration services. A draft law, the Civil Registration Ordinance, 2025, proposes establishing a 'Civil Registration Commission' to consolidate birth registration and NID services under a unified body. 

However, the proposal has sparked debates and protests, with Election Commission employees staging a sit-in to demand that NID services remain under them.