The Births & Deaths (Amendment) Bill 2026 from the central government passed the Lok Sabha this afternoon. The goal of the measure is to make it more difficult for delayed births and deaths to be registered in India. It might significantly affect the upcoming census if it is approved by the Rajya Sabha as well.
The Births & Deaths (Amendment) Bill 2026 was proposed by the Ministry of Home Affairs of the central government with the goal of addressing the problem of delayed birth and death registration in India. The Registration of Births & Deaths (Amendment) Bill from 1969 has been modified. But compared to its predecessor, the new bill’s requirements are noticeably stricter. By voice voting, the bill was approved.
Fellow cabinet minister Kiran Rijiju, who handles the Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs slammed the opposition’s lack of participation over ‘the important bill’. “It is unfortunate. Please do not repeat this in the future. People who sent you to Parliament will seek answers from you”, he said. BJP MP Dilip Saikia also denounced the conduct of opposition leaders.
Reducing the number of delayed births and deaths in India is the goal of the Births & Deaths (Amendment) Bill 2026. A district magistrate, sub-divisional magistrate, or authorised executive magistrate must issue an order for registrations that are delayed by more than a year under the current law. The modified law would maintain this need for delays of up to two years. For reporting delays of one to two years, the law requires District Magistrate verification; for delays longer than two years, a Judicial Magistrate of the First Class (JMFC) order is required.
The Births & Deaths (Amendment) Bill 2026 has now passed the lower chamber of parliament, but the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha must approve it before it can be put into effect. It will probably be debated in the upper house tomorrow for the next phase of the legislative process after being added to the Revised List of Business.
The Public Examinations (Prevention of Unfair Means) Amendment Bill, 2026 and the Prevention of Insults to National Honour (Amendment) Bill, 2026 are the two bills that have so far been approved by both the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha.
