No Aadhaar, no RIP

Sandeep Sinha

“Always quote a dead man so that he can’t come and contradict you,” goes the saying. With a growing tendency among the people to list the dead as their own to claim the benefits and subsidies under various schemes in their name, the government has finally decided that from October 1, Aadhaar number will be required to get a death certificate.

While it will not be mandatory as of now, the time is not far off when it will be a de rigueur as of the 82.89 crore adults in India, 82.75 crore already have an Aadhaar ID.

Not only this, the person applying for the certificate on behalf of the dead will have to submit own Aadhaar number as well. In case the Aadhaar number of the dead is not there, a certificate to this effect has to be attached.

Now, the importance of the death certificate is grossly underestimated. It is in fact one of the most important document that greatly impacts our lives. Just as pensioners have to submit a life certificate annually, and marriages have to be registered to prove that you are legally married to someone or to  obtain a passport or change the maiden name, so the death certificate has to be furnished to ensure there is no hitch in confirming the end of a person’s worldly existence.

The death certificate is required ever y where, to get the house or land transferred in one’s name and claim the deposits in bank accounts. It is not just enough to be a close kin or blood relative of the deceased. You have to prove that you are the legal heir too and that there are no rival claimants.

No-objection certificates have to be submitted from potential claimants and a family tree or genealogy (Parivarik Suchi) has to be issued by the Municipal Corporation certifying the real descendants to ward off threats of objections being filed in future. What is worse is that in the absence of nomination, the money goes to the deceased claim account of banks and then getting it becomes a long-drawn affair with lawyers being hired and guarantors and witnesses required to be produced. What everybody knows is not just enough. It has to be legally sanctified.

In the case of LPG, the connections in the name of the dead have to be surrendered. With subsidies being provided for LPG, the importance of this step cannot be under-estimated. What may be a small amount for an individual LPG owner will translate into vast sums for the government that doles out the money.  Similar is the case with other schemes like old-age pension, among others. 

Getting a death certificate issued can be an arduous task. While at many places, it is issued in a time-barred manner, at other places it may require speed money, especially if one is racing against time. With the government machinery involved in conducting elections, Census, flood and drought relief work, the staff too is busy and getting their attention requires some effort.

Normally, the hospitals or doctors issue a death certificate which is submitted at the crematorium. Then it is with the certificates from the doctor and the crematorium that one has to apply for the death certificate. The certificate is normally issued by the civic body of the city in which death takes place. So, when you go back to your own city and start the inheritance process, things tend to get stuck because the authenticity of the death certificate has to be verified and it takes time. 

In such a situation, if the dead has an Aadhaar number, it can help save time while clearly identifying the legal heir. Usually, banks mention on the cheques that the person is the legal heir of the dead after going through the required formalities to confirm the genuineness of the claim.

Making Aadhaar necessary for a death certificate will also have a bearing on crime like murders related to property and suicides. It will be a single source of ascertaining the identity of a person doing away with the need for multiple documents much like the social security number in the US.   

And dead men tell no tales. Therefore, the Aadhaar number will be needed to ferret out details to plug the gaps even as one will have gone with the eventide.