Death Certificate in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands
Andaman and Nicobar Islands state government scheme
Death Certificate in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands is registered by the Local Registrar of Births and Deaths under the Directorate of Health Services, and the Administration runs BIRDS, a web-based birth and death registration system built by NIC Andaman that registers events from health centres and prints certificates from the website. Every death must be reported within 21 days.
What is a death certificate in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands and who issues it?
A death certificate in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands is the legal record of a death made under the Registration of Births and Deaths Act 1969, and the issuing authority is the Executive Officer or Local Registrar of Births and Deaths for the area where the death occurred, functioning under the Directorate of Health Services of the Andaman and Nicobar Administration at Port Blair 744101. The Administration also maintains a Registrar, Birth and Death office at Atlanta Point, Port Blair 744104.
The islands run their own registration software rather than relying only on counter registers. BIRDS, the Birth and Death Registration System, is a web-based system developed by NIC Andaman for the Administration, and its stated objectives are threefold: web-based registration of births and deaths from the health centres under the Directorate of Health Services, printing of birth and death certificates from the website, and generation of all the statutory reports required by the A&N Administration and the Registrar General of India. In practice that means a death occurring in G B Pant Hospital, a district hospital, a community health centre or a primary health centre is entered into the system at the health centre itself, and the certificate is printed from that record.
One point causes repeated confusion among island residents and is worth stating plainly. The district administrations of South Andaman and of North and Middle Andaman publish a list of twelve certificates issued by the concerned Tehsildar through e-forms, income, local, OBC, residential, senior citizen, legal heir, no dues, origin or language, valuation, solvency, dependent and unemployment. The death certificate is not on that list. It appears on the district pages only as a supporting document that a family must produce when applying for the Legal Heir Certificate, formally the certificate for surviving family members of a deceased person. Death registration in the islands belongs to the health registration machinery, not to the revenue Tehsildar.
Who can apply, and who cannot?
The person the law obliges to report a death is the informant. For a death in a house, that is the head of the household. For a death in a hospital, nursing home or health centre, it is the medical officer in charge or the person the institution authorises, which in the islands is the ordinary route, because BIRDS is built around health-centre reporting. For a death in a public place, in jail, in a hostel or at sea, it is the officer in charge of that place or the police.
For copies of a registered death, the spouse, children, parents and legal heirs of the deceased can apply. Applicants cannot apply to an island registrar for a death that occurred outside the Union Territory, since jurisdiction follows the place of death; a family in Port Blair whose relative died in a Chennai or Kolkata hospital must obtain the certificate from that city's registrar. A person with no relationship to the deceased and no legal interest in the record also cannot apply for a copy. There is no Islander-card, tribe, income or residence eligibility test for a death certificate, unlike the Local Certificate and the ST or OBC certificate, which the islands restrict tightly, civil registration covers every death occurring in the territory regardless of who the deceased was.
What documents are needed?
The mandatory papers are the report of death in Form 2, the Medical Certificate of Cause of Death in Form 4 or Form 4A from the treating hospital or doctor, identity proof of the deceased, the Islander card or Aadhaar being the usual choices in the islands: proof of the island address that establishes the registration unit's jurisdiction, and identity proof of the informant. Where the death occurred at home without medical attendance, the cremation or burial ground receipt is normally sought as corroboration of the date and place. An unnatural, accidental or unidentified death — including a death at sea or in a boat accident, adds the police report and the post-mortem report, because the cause of death entry is then drawn from the mortuary record rather than from a treating physician.
What does it cost?
Registration of a death made within the statutory 21-day window is free to the informant; the Registration of Births and Deaths Act places the reporting duty on the informant and imposes no registration charge for a timely report. Copies of the certificate are issued at the Administration's own counter rate, and a delayed registration attracts the late fee prescribed under the Act. Pay only what the counter charges and take the receipt. The Andaman and Nicobar Administration provides the e-District helpdesk on 03192-259027 and 03192-259028 free of charge, which is the correct place to ask about a stalled application; not a private agent in Port Blair offering to "arrange" a certificate.
How to get a death certificate in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. The step-by-step process
- Obtain the Medical Certificate of Cause of Death from the hospital, health centre or attending doctor. For a death in G B Pant Hospital, a district hospital, a CHC or a PHC, the institution issues it and the event is entered into the BIRDS system at that health centre.
- Report the death in Form 2 within 21 days to the Local Registrar of Births and Deaths of the area where the death occurred. For an institutional death the hospital reports it; for a death at home the head of the household does.
- File an affidavit if the 21-day window has passed, stating the reason for the delay in registration. The affidavit is a firm requirement for a delayed report, not an optional extra.
- Let the Local Registrar verify the entry against the medical certificate and the identity documents and make the entry in the death register.
- Collect the printed certificate, which BIRDS generates and prints from the website record, from the registration unit or the health centre that made the entry, paying the counter rate for each copy.
- Take extra copies at the same time, because the bank, the insurer, the pension office, the property mutation file and the Legal Heir Certificate application each require their own copy.
How do I use the death certificate for the Legal Heir Certificate?
This is the commonest downstream use of the document in the islands, and the sequence matters. The district administrations require the death certificate as a supporting document for the certificate for surviving family members of a deceased person, alongside identity proof, the ration card and an affidavit. That application does go to the concerned Tehsildar through e-forms filed via a Common Service Centre, an e-corner or your own internet connection at edistrict.andamannicobar.gov.in. So the order is: register the death and obtain the death certificate from the health registration machinery first, then apply to the Tehsildar for the Legal Heir Certificate on e-District.
How do I check status or get duplicates?
Quote the registration number, the name of the deceased and the date of death at the registration unit that made the entry. Because BIRDS prints from a live database, a duplicate copy is a reprint rather than a fresh application, provided the entry exists. If the entry cannot be found, the report has not been processed and the follow-up belongs with the Local Registrar rather than with a new application. For e-District services and portal problems, the helpdesk numbers are 03192-259027 and 03192-259028, at the Office of the Secretary (General Administration), A&N Administration Secretariat, Port Blair.
What are the common reasons a death registration fails?
Filing after 21 days without the affidavit stating the reason for the delay is the leading cause of a returned file. A death more than one year old cannot be registered without an order of a First Class Magistrate under Section 13(3) of the Act. Applying to the wrong registration unit. A real risk in a territory spread across three districts and dozens of inhabited islands: sends the application to a registrar without jurisdiction. Missing the Medical Certificate of Cause of Death for a death that occurred in a health facility leaves the cause of death column incomplete. A mismatch between the name on the medical certificate and the name on the Islander card or Aadhaar stalls verification. And approaching the Tehsildar for a death certificate, on the assumption that it works like the other island certificates, simply wastes a trip.
Where do I complain if the certificate is delayed?
Raise it first with the Local Registrar of Births and Deaths who holds the entry, quoting the Form 2 acknowledgement and the date of death. Escalate to the Directorate of Health Services, Andaman and Nicobar Administration, Port Blair 744101, which is the administrative controller of the registration machinery in the islands, and to the Deputy Commissioner of your district, South Andaman, North and Middle Andaman or Nicobar, for district-level intervention. Portal and e-District problems go to the helpdesk on 03192-259027 and 03192-259028.
Documents required
Frequently asked questions
Who registers a death in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands?
The Executive Officer or Local Registrar of Births and Deaths for the area, working under the Directorate of Health Services of the Andaman and Nicobar Administration. The Directorate of Health Services is headquartered at Port Blair 744101, and health centres across the islands feed registration data into the Administration's BIRDS system.
What is BIRDS in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands?
BIRDS is the web-based Birth and Death Registration System developed by NIC Andaman for the Administration. Its objectives are web-based registration from health centres under the Directorate of Health Services, printing of birth and death certificates from the website, and generation of the statutory reports required by the Administration and the Registrar General of India.
How many days do I have to register a death?
Twenty-one days from the date of the death, as required under the Registration of Births and Deaths Act 1969 for every state and Union Territory. If the registration is not made within 21 days, the informant must file an affidavit stating the reason for the delay.
Is a death certificate issued by the Tehsildar in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands?
No — and this trips up a lot of applicants. The district administrations of South Andaman and North and Middle Andaman list twelve certificates issued by the concerned Tehsildar, including income, local, residential, senior citizen and legal heir certificates, but the death certificate is not among them. Death registration sits with the Registrar of Births and Deaths under the health machinery.
Where do I need a death certificate in the islands?
For the Legal Heir Certificate above all. The district administrations require a death certificate as a supporting document for the certificate for surviving family members of a deceased person, alongside ID proof, the ration card and an affidavit — so the death certificate must be obtained first.
Can I get the death certificate if the death occurred on another island?
You must apply to the registration unit of the place where the death occurred, because jurisdiction under the Registration of Births and Deaths Act follows the place of death, not the family's residence. In an archipelago of three districts spread across hundreds of kilometres this matters more than it does on the mainland.
Does a death certificate in the islands expire?
No. A death certificate is a permanent civil registration record with no validity period and no renewal. Only corrections — a misspelt name, a wrong age or a wrong address — are handled later, by the same registrar on documentary proof.
Should I pay an agent in Port Blair to get the certificate?
No. Registration is a statutory duty carried out free of the informant's expense and the certificate is issued at the Administration's own counter rate against a receipt. The e-District helpdesk on 03192-259027 and 03192-259028 is the free channel for help.
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