Punjab Students Face Admission Crisis as Missing Names on Birth Certificates Block Enrolment

Thousands of students in Punjab aspiring to secure admission from Class VIII to higher education, including colleges and universities, are facing a major obstacle after the Punjab Government made digital birth certificates mandatory for admissions. The problem has emerged because many digital birth certificates do not contain the student's actual name, with the name field displaying only "Boy" or "Girl." Jagjit Singh, who is seeking admission to Class X, is among the affected students. Although his date of birth is recorded as October 28, 2010, his digital birth certificate does not mention his name. Since he is now over 14 years of age, the Health Department's digital system no longer allows an application to update his name on the certificate. A similar situation has affected Nandani and several other students across the state. According to their parents, hospitals registered the births by simply mentioning "Boy" or "Girl" instead of recording the child's name. Now, when these children have reached the age of 15 or 16 and are applying for admission to higher classes, authorities have informed them that their names cannot be added to the birth certificates. Parents have questioned how their children will continue their education if their names cannot be officially recorded. Under the rules followed by the Health Department and Sewa Kendras, the application facility for adding a name to a birth certificate is no longer available once a child crosses the age of 14. As a result, students above that age are unable to update their digital birth certificates, directly affecting their admissions. According to the Health Department's website and current Punjab Government notifications issued under Section 14 of the Registration of Births and Deaths Act, a child's name can be added to a birth certificate up to the age of 14 without any delay fee or by paying only a nominal fee. However, information obtained from Sewa Kendra sources and the Health Department's online portal indicates that the software link or application for updating names of children above 14 years of age has been disabled. Sewa Kendras Unable to Process Applications Parents visiting Sewa Kendras to have their children's names added to birth certificates have reportedly been turned away because the system does not accept applications for children above the age of 14. Staff members at the centres have said they are unable to process such requests since the relevant portal has been closed. Admissions Directly Affected Students who have completed Class VIII, Class X, or Class XII are generally over the age of 14 when applying for admission to the next level of education. Schools and colleges now require a digital birth certificate carrying the student's correct name as part of the admission process. In the absence of this, admissions are being delayed, leaving both students and parents concerned. Parents of the affected children have urged the Punjab Government to immediately restore the Health Department's application link for adding names of children above 14 years of age. They have also requested that school records and Aadhaar cards be accepted as valid supporting documents to simplify the process of updating birth certificates, ensuring that students do not suffer any disruption to their education.