Team Herald
MARGAO: While quite a number of people from Salcete are struggling to get birth certificates of their birth registered in 1960s and early 1970s, Xavier Trinidade Fernandes from Sirvodem in Margao has succeeded in getting his destroyed birth certificate issued to him by invoking a lesser known law and tenaciously following up the matter.
Fernandes who was born on June 9, 1968 and whose birth was registered under number 1277 of 1968 was shocked to learn that the Civil Registrar cum Sub Registrar could not issue him his birth certificate as the same was destroyed and hence not available.
However, he had a photocopy of the original birth certificate issued to him but that was not acceptable to the officials and he had to seek recourse under the Goa Reconstruction of Registers and Records Act of 2005.
Applying for reconstruction of his birth certificate under Section 5 of the act, he attached a photocopy of the original birth certificate, an affidavit, copies of his passport, election identify card and Permanent Account Number card.
Going through the documents attached and his application, the District Registrar on October 16, 2018 filed a report stating that the record of birth is destroyed and not available.
Acting on the report State Registrar cum Head of Notary Services, Ashutosh Apte vide his order dated November 13, 2018 directed the Sub Registrar cum Civil Registrar to reconstruct the birth record “in the format in which the original record existed”.
Following this order, the Sub Registrar on November 20, issued the birth certificate to Xavier.
“I have seen many people struggle to get their certificates and hence would advise them to go for reconstruction of their records instead of wasting time on irrelevant matters,” Fernandes said.
