Chapter XVI VITAL STATISTICS

Registration of Births and Deaths

For the purpose of registering births and deaths, the Commissioner shall divide

1[Brihan Mumbai] into such and so many districts and sub-district as he shall from time to time think fit; and a Municipal Officer shall be a Registrar of Births and Death of each such districts.

1. (1) Every Registrar shall reside within the district of which he is a Registrar and shall cause his name, together with the words “Registrar of Birth and Deaths for the district of” to be affixed in some conspicuous place at or near the outer door of his place of abode.
2. (2) A list showing the name and place of abode of every Registrar in 2[Brihan Mumbai] shall be kept at the Municipal Office and shall be open at all reasonable times to public inspection free of charge.

The Commissioner shall provide and supply to the Registrar a sufficient number of register-books of births and deaths for the registration of the particulars specified in Schedules N and O, respectively; and the pages of each of the said books shall be numbered progressively from the beginning to the end thereof.

1. (1) Each Registrar shall inform himself carefully of every birth and death which shall happen in his district and of the particulars These words were substituted for the words “Greater Bombay” by Mah. 25 of 1996, s. 2, Schedule. These words were substituted for the words “Greater Bombay” by Mah. 25 of 1996, s. 2, Schedule.

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concerning the same required to be registered according to the forms in the said schedules, and shall as soon after each such birth or death as conveniently may be, register the same in the book supplied for this purpose by the Commissioner, without making any charge or demanding or receiving any fee or reward for so doing other than his remuneration as a Municipal Officer.

1. (2) Other Municipal Officers, besides the Registrars, may be appointed, with the duty of informing themselves of every birth or of every death or of every birth and every death in the district to which they are respectively appointed and of the particulars concerning the same required to be registered, and of submitting such information to the Registrar of the said district or to such other person as the Commissioner directs.

1. (1) It shall be the duty of the father and mother of every child born in 1[Brihan Mumbai] and, in default of the father and mother, of the occupier of the premises in which to his knowledge the child is born, and of each person present, at the birth and of the person having charge of the child, to give, to the best of his knowledge and belief to the

Registrar or other Municipal Officer appointed under section 445, within seven days after such birth,

information of the particulars to be registered concerning such birth.

1. (2) Saving for father of illegitimate child.— Provided that, in the case of an illegitimate child, no person shall, as father of such child, be required to give information under this Act concerning the birth of such child and the Registrar shall not enter in the register the name of any person, as father of such child, unless at the joint request of the mother and of the person acknowledging himself to be the father of such child, and such person shall in such case sign the register together with mother.

In case any new-born child is found exposed, it shall be the duty of any person finding such child and of any person in whose charge such child may be placed to give, to the best of his knowledge and belief to the Registrar or other

Officers to be appointed to receive information of deaths at places for disposal of the dead.— (1) For every place for the disposal of the dead registered in the register kept under section 435 a Municipal Officer shall be appointed whose duty it shall be to receive information of the particulars required to be registered concerning the death of every person whose corpse is disposed of at such place.

1. (2) If the Commissioner shall not think fit to require the Municipal Officer so appointed to be in constant attendance at any place for the disposal of the dead for which he is so appointed, there shall be affixed to a conspicuous part of the entrance to such place a notice specifying the name of the Officer so appointed for the said place and the place where he may be found.

(1) It shall be the duty of the nearest relatives of any person dying in the city present at the death, or in attendance during the last illness of the deceased and, in default of such relative, of each person present at the death, and of the occupier of the premises in which, to his knowledge, the death took place, and, in default of the persons hereinbefore in this section mentioned, of each inmate of such premises,

and of the undertaker or other person causing the corpse of the deceased person to be disposed of, to

give, to the best of his knowledge and belief, to the officer appointed under the last preceding section, information of the particulars required to be registered concerning such death.

1. (2) The said information shall be given at or about the item that the corpse of the deceased person is disposed of, and it shall be given in writing if the informant can write, and otherwise orally, and the informant shall make known to the officer aforesaid his name, designation and place of abode, and shall attest the correctness of the information which he gives, to the best of his knowledge and belief, by his signature or mark.

1. (1) In the case of a person who has been attended in his last illness by a duly qualified medical

practitioner, that practitioner shall sign and forward to the Commissioner a certificate of the cause of

These words were substituted for the words “Greater Bombay” by Mah. 25 of 1996, s. 2, Schedule

336 The Mumbai Municipal Corporation Act [1888 : III

such person’s death in the form of Schedule P, or in such other form as shall from time to time be prescribed by, the Commissioner in this behalf, and the cause of death as stated in such certificate shall be entered in the register, together with the name of the certifying medical practitioner.

1. (2) The Commissioner shall provide printed forms of the said certificates, and any duly qualified medical practitioner resident in

1[Brihan Mumbai] shall be supplied, on application, with such forms,

free of charge.

1. (1) The information concerning deaths received by every officer appointed under section 448 shall be entered by him in a register-sheet, which shall contain the particulars specified in Schedule O, and shall be forwarded, at such intervals as shall be prescribed by the Commissioner, through the registrar of the district to the municipal office.
2. (2) From the said register-sheets and from the certificates furnished to him under section 450, the Commissioner shall cause the register-books of deaths to be prepared and shall have prepared and published such tabular returns and statements as shall appear to him to be useful for sanitary or other purposes.

1. (1) Any clerical error which may at any time be discovered in a register of births or in a register of deaths may be corrected by any person authorised in that behalf by the Commissioner.
2. (2) An error of fact or substance in any such register may be corrected by any person authorised as aforesaid by entry in the margin, without any alteration of the original entry, upon production to the Commissioner, by the person requiring such error to be corrected, of a declaration on oath setting forth the nature of the error and the true facts of the case, made before a Magistrate by two persons required by this Act to give information concerning the birth or death with reference to which the error has been made or, in default of such persons, by two credible persons having knowledge of the case, and certified by such Magistrate to have been made in his presence.
3. (3) Except as aforesaid no alteration shall be made in any such register.

1. (1) When the birth of any child has been registered and the name, if any, by which it was registered, is altered or, if it was registered without a name, when a name is given to it, the parent or guardian of such child or other person procuring such name to be altered or given may, within twelve months next after the registration of the birth, deliver to the Registrar. Such certificate as hereinafter mentioned and the Registrar, upon the receipt of that certificate shall without any erasure of the original entry, forthwith enter in the register-book the name mentioned in the certificate as having been given to the child.
2. (2) The certificate shall be in the form of Scheduled Q, or as near thereto as circumstances admit, and in the case of a Christian, shall be signed by the minister or person who performed the rite of baptism upon which the name was given or altered, or if the child is not baptized or is not a Christian, shall be signed by the father, mother or guardian of the child or other person procuring the name of the child to be given or altered.
3. (3) Every minister or person who performs the rite of baptism shall deliver the certificate required by this section on demand, on payment of a fee not exceeding one rupee. Taking of a Census

At such time and in such manner as shall be directed from time to time by the Commissioner, with the sanction of the Corporation and of

2[the Central

Government], an enumeration shall be made of the persons who at the time of making such enumeration shall be within

3[Brihan Mumbai]: Provided always that, one clear month previous to such enumeration being commenced, notice of the intention to make the same, with the date or dates upon or within which it is intended to be made,

These words were substituted for the words “Greater Bombay” by Mah. 25 of 1996, s. 2, Schedule. The words “the Central Government” were substituted for the word “Government” by the Adaptation of Indian Laws Order in Council. These words were substituted for the words “Greater Bombay” by Mah. 25 of 1996, s. 2, Schedule.

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and all other necessary particulars, shall be given by advertisement in the

1[Official Gazette] and in the local newspapers.

The Commissioner shall superintend the taking of such enumeration, and shall appoint such enumerators or other subordinate officers and make such arrangements generally as may seem to him necessary for the purpose of such enumeration.

Each enumerator or other subordinate officer appointed under the last preceding section shall, agreeably to his instructions leave at each building or place of residence within his district, four days at least before the time appointed for the collection of the completed returns or Census, a blank schedule or return, of such form and containing such particulars as

2[the Central Government] may approve, to be duly filled up and signed by the owner, tenant or principal occupant of the said building or place or residence.

1. (1) Every person at whose building or place of residence any such blank schedule or return is left shall correctly fill up the same and affix his signature thereto and return it, when called upon so to do, to the enumerator or other subordinate officer aforesaid; or, if such person is unable to write, he shall furnish to an enumerator when called upon so to do, the information required for correctly filling up such schedule or return.
2. (2) Any person who fails to comply with any provision of sub-section (1) may be detained in custody until he complies therewith or the requisite information is otherwise obtained.
3. (3) It shall be the duty of an enumerator, if so required by any person who is unable to write, to fill up any such schedule or return as aforesaid from information supplied by such person.

If any enumerator or other subordinate officer employed in the collection of such schedules or returns shall find any of the same defective or in any respect improperly filled in he may return the same to the occupant of the building or, residence to which the same relates, together with a written notice requiring that the same be duly filled in or amended within a period of forty-eight hours.

(1) Any military or naval officer, or any officer of the Bombay City Police, or any master or person in charge of a merchant vessel, or nacoda or tindal of a vessel or boat, or any person in charge of a lunatic asylum, hospital or prison or of any public or private charitable or scholastic institution, or any keeper or a hotel or lodging-house, shall if required, act as an enumerator for the purpose of taking account of persons under his command of charge or abiding in any building in his possession, charge or control, on the night immediately preceding the day to be appointed for the making of such enumeration.

1. (2) Every person so required to act as an enumerator shall receive and conform to all instructions in writing which may be issued to him by the Commissioner in that behalf.

3[the Central Government],

returns of the particulars required for the purpose of the Census with respect to all houseless persons, and all persons who during the said night preceding the day to be appointed for the making of such enumeration were on out-door night duty, or for any other reasons were not abiding in any building of which account is to be taken by the enumerators.

The words “Official Gazette” were substituted for the words “Bombay Government Gazette” by the Adaptation of Indian Laws Order in Council. The words “the Central Government” were substituted for the word “Government” by the Adaptation of Indian Laws Order in Council. The words “the Central Government” were substituted for the word “Government” by the Adaptation of Indian Laws Order in Council.

338 The Mumbai Municipal Corporation Act [1888 : III