Dhaka:Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Md Asaduzzaman announced that digital registration of marriages and divorces will allow for quick verification of marital information both domestically and internationally, as the data will be stored in a comprehensive database.
According to Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha, the minister emphasized that the system aims to create a reliable database for tracking marital relationships across the country. This will facilitate monitoring of marriage occurrences, detection of child marriages, and enforcement of marriage-related laws.
Md Asaduzzaman made these comments during the inauguration of a 10-day training session for nikah registrars on the use of software for online registration of marriages and divorces at the BRAC Learning Centre in Dhaka.
The minister highlighted that once online marriage registration is implemented, it will be possible to check a person's marital history and whether they have obtained the necessary approval from the Arbitration Council for new marriages. This system is expected to reduce the incidence of concealed marriages, secret nuptials, and false denial of marriages. It will also enable individuals to learn about a prospective partner's previous marriages, potentially reducing polygamy.
Plans are in place to integrate marriage registration data with the National Identity Card, birth registration, passport databases, and other governmental databases. This integration aims to streamline the verification of citizens' identities and associated information.
Organized as part of the "Civil Registration and Vital Statistics Development of ICT Infrastructure for Marriage and Divorce Registration" pilot project, 26 nikah registrars are participating in the training. The event was chaired by Law and Justice Division Secretary Liaquet Ali Molla and attended by several officials, including Additional Secretaries Md Khadem Ul Kayes and SM Ershadul Alam, and BRAC's Social Empowerment and Legal Protection Programme Director Shashwatee Biplob.