THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Children born of illicit relationships who bear the ignominy of leaving the 'father' column blank in their birth certificates can now stake claim to certificates that show their true parentage.

In a revolutionary order, the local self-government department has directed all civic bodies to correct the father's name in birth certificates based on DNA test. The order has been issued based on the soaring number of pending applications in various civic bodies pertaining to change in the father's name. At present, the name of father is marked in the birth certificate based on documents received from the hospital and no application for any change in the father's name is entertained since it cannot be proved. Although rules say that the birth registrar can make cancellations and corrections in a birth certificate based on his/her conviction, DNA test was never allowed.

In December 2014, the birth registrar of Malappuram municipality P K Ganeshan had forwarded a letter asking whether DNA test could be used as basis for changing the name of a child's father in the birth certificate. A similar case had arisen in Thiruvananthapuram corporation which even led to legal tangles when a woman applied for changing the name of the father of her twins after five years of marriage. The chief registrar had sought a clarification on these applications since numerous such cases were being reported from other civic bodies.

"Often it led to much con fusion and children had to bear the brunt since certificates would show the father's name as 'unknown'. With this order, we can direct for a DNA test and parentage can be ascertained," said K P Sa bukuttan Nair, deputy chieF registrar, panchayat department. The problem usually arises when the woman is married to a person other than the biological father. Later, she applies for the birth certificate with the present husband's name as the child's father. However, local bodies do not change the name of the father since the woman fails to prove the child's paternity .

The government has stated that the registrar can change the name of the father based on a set of documents, including DNA biological information from a government-approved laboratory , hospital documents testified by concerned officials, court order and a local inquiry by the registrar. LSG principal secretary James Varghese said the order was issued to do away with confusion regarding applications pertaining to paternity . "This will be in effect from January 1. It is going to be an important order in birth registration," he said.



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