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Marriage registration to become mandatory

NEW DELHI: Couples seeking to register their marriage under the new law – which makes it mandatory to do so within 60 days of the wedding – will soon be able to just go online. From applying for registration and uploading of documents, the process will be similar to the one followed for passport applications. An appointment slot for the final registration will be given and the couple required to visit the marriage registrar at the office of the sub-divisional magistrate for completion of the process.The revenue department of Delhi government is aiming at a mid-September launch for the e-district project , beginning with north district, under which marriage registration will be the first service to go online. The state intends to issue digitised certificates in the long run.Trial run of the new portal is on, and within the next one year, more services will be added. The e-district project is aimed at rooting out touts and middlemen and ending the chaos at the district offices. According to Delhi's divisional commissioner Dharampal for those who do not have access to the internet, the district offices will have e-district kiosks."The e-district project envisages integrated and seamless electronic delivery of citizen services by the district administration through re-engineering and automation of work flow, online verification of citizen data and integration across participating departments," explains Dharampal. He says the ultimate goal is to provide digitally signed certificates which can be authenticated online and facilitate capacity building and infrastructure improvement at district, tehsil and block levels. "The e-district will facilitate citizens to apply and access progress details through internet, IVRS and mobile phones," says Dharampal.Besides marriage registration, the other services of revenue department proposed to be brought under the e-district portal include certificates for birth, death, SC/STC and OBC, nationality, domicile, handicap, income, lal dora and surviving member. Ration cards issued by the food and civil supplies department will be next in line. The social welfare department's applications for pension for the old, widows and handicapped persons will also be brought to this portal.The UID-Adhaar number will be the basis for all applications and the data will be used to link up with other departments on the e-district platform.Taking TOI through the e-district portal's trial run, deputy commissioner of north district Mona Sreenivas elaborated on the work flow. "The marriage registration process will involve logging on to the e-district portal just as one does for the railway ticket booking by making a login Id and password. The application for marriage registration will show up and the applicant will be guided through simplified fields. For instance, as a check to prevent registration of under-age couples, the form does not accept an age below 18 years," said the DC.There will be a provision to upload all documents which will have to be self-attested. Once the submission process is complete, the applicant will be given an appointment slot with the registrar. Finally, an acknowledgement will be sent through sms, e-mail or a physical printout in case it is generated from the e-district kiosks proposed to be set up in the district offices.The final registration won't take long since the registrar will already have all the documents, explains Sreenivas. However, at the introduction stage, the applicants will be asked to submit the hard copies of their documents as well.