The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh / Hyderabad News : What's in a name? Think twice

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Jun 28, 2005

Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh - Hyderabad

What's in a name? Think twice

V.Geetanath

Change in name not to be entertained

HYDERABAD: Nicknames for newborns might sound cute to their parents, but think twice before enrolling the same names in birth certificates. This is because once a particular name is registered in the birth certificate; it cannot be changed at any cost.

While registration of births has been made compulsory by the Government as per the Birth and Death Act of 1969 and by additional rules framed by the State Government in 1999, the Municipal Corporation of Hyderabad is now faced with requests for a change in names.

But officials' say only spelling errors could be corrected and changing an already registered name cannot be done. They suggest to leave the space for names blank and to fill in rest of the particulars like the parents' names, hospital and area. Another option is to decide on the baby's name before birth itself!

Since, birth certificates are mandatory during school admissions, parents have three years of time to think of a suitable name for their children, fill in the name and then take the birth certificate if it is left blank after birth. As per rules, birth certificates have to be taken before a boy or a girl attains 15 years of age and they will not be issued thereafter.

This could prove to be a big dampener for those wanting to go abroad as consulates insist on birth certificates. True, name of any person can be changed through a laborious gazette notification but this will not be accepted abroad.

With so much importance attached to the birth certificate and few being aware of the procedures, MCH is now making plans to set up notice boards at all nursing homes and hospitals to educate people on correct procedures of birth registration. It had earlier introduced securitised birth certificates.

Signboards in English, Telugu and Urdu are to be put up at strategic spots in more than 400 hospitals. Birth registrations are fairly high within MCH jurisdiction in the last few years with about 1.2 lakh entries each year. There are also quite a few cases of those yet to take the certificate and those with the problem of nicknames and errors.

The Corporation has started computerisation of birth registration records and entry of 16 lakh records pertaining to the period 1957-2001 has been completed. The MCH Commissioner, Sanjay Jaju, has directed officials to keep the digitised list updated till 2004 in the next few days.

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