We are concerned about the cumbersome process of birth registration in the country, which has been causing immense suffering to the parents who want to enrol their children in school next year. Reportedly, many parents in Dhaka are facing delays of several months to complete their children's birth registration. This is primarily due to a government rule that requires individuals born after 2001 to provide both their parents' birth registration certificates and National Identification (NID) numbers in order to register their birth. Since a large number of the parents do not have their own birth registration certificates, they are now having to first apply for their own before applying for their children's, which is taking up a significant amount of time. In many cases, there are discrepancies between the information on their birth certificates and NID cards. Correcting these inconsistencies also takes considerable time. As a result, many parents are running out of time to enrol their children in their preferred educational institutions.

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Councillor crisis must not affect essential services

Clearly, this problem would not have arisen if birth registration had been completed immediately after birth, at the hospital. According to Article 7 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, birth registration must be done immediately after a child's birth. Additionally, a directive from the Registrar General's office recommends that birth registration be completed within 45 days of a child's birth. However, this rule remains largely unimplemented in the country. Many parents, therefore, only seek to register their children's births when preparing to admit them to school.

Every year, in the first eight months, the city corporations receive only a handful of birth registration applications. However, from September onwards, the number of applications increases, putting considerable pressure on the city corporation offices. This year, the situation has worsened, especially due to the vacuum created in the city corporations after the fall of the Awami League regime. While birth registration work resumed by the end of September, the process remains as inefficient as before.

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No councillors, no quick services

We, therefore, urge the authorities to make the birth registration process simpler and more citizen-friendly. It makes little sense for parents to be required to produce their own birth certificates to register their children's births. They should be able to do so using only their NID cards. Furthermore, since we already have a digital system for birth and death registration, the government should promote its use among service seekers. In the long term, the government should consider appointing a registrar at every hospital across the country so that the registration process can be completed at the hospital.