Future birth certificates to have ‘unique identity number’

The Government has decided to issue national birth certificates with a ‘unique identity number’.

The proposal to this effect submitted by President Gotabaya Rajapaksa in his capacity as the Minister of Defence was approved by the Cabinet of Ministers on Monday.

The proposal is to issue ‘the unique identity number’ to the Registrar General's Department across the database of the Department of Registration of Persons and to issue the birth certificate of the relevant individual by the Department of Registrar General including the received identity number.

The Registrar General's Department is entrusted with the authority to issue the national birth certificate to in terms of the Births and Deaths Registration Act. The Department of Registration of Persons is entrusted with the authority to maintain the national individual registry as well as to register and issuance of National Identity Cards to the Sri Lankan citizens those complete and is completing 15 years as per the provisions of the Registration of Persons Act No. 32 of 1968. 

Furthermore, the Department of Registration of persons is also entrusted with the powers to issue a Sri Lankan identity number for every Sri Lankan citizen under Electronic Transaction Orders (Sri Lanka identity numbers) No. 1 of 2019 issued as per the provisions of the Electronic Transactions Act No. 19 of 2006. 

“In the future Sri Lankans will be given the opportunity to get activities easily and efficiently when obtaining services from the birth to death by utilising a unique identification number,” the Government said.