The Directorate of Public Health and Preventive Medicine (DPH) has instructed all District Revenue Officers to initiate awareness campaigns in schools, colleges, and registration units to ensure students` names are included on their birth certificates. The government has extended the deadline for this process to December 31, 2024.
This initiative targets births registered before January 1, 2000, and cases where 15 years have passed since birth registration. According to the amended Registration of Births and Deaths (Amendment) Act, 2023, the birth certificate will be the sole document for verifying the date and place of birth for children born on or after October 1, 2023.
In Tamil Nadu, since January 1, 2000, children`s names can be added to birth certificates up to 15 years from the registration date. Birth certificates are crucial for school admissions, driving licenses, voter lists, Aadhaar numbers, passports, marriage registration, and government job applications.
The DPH has urged schools to verify students` birth certificates, inform parents about the deadline, and guide them to the Registrars of Births and Deaths. Schools must ensure all students have birth certificates with their names included and submit weekly reports to the Chief Educational Officer, who will forward them to the District Health Officers and the Additional District Registrar of Births and Deaths. Parents are encouraged to use name declaration forms for school admissions.