Statelessness Working Paper Series No. 2017/02 CRC) irrespective of the nationality or any other status of his/her parents (Article 2(1) CRC). This is imperative in preventing statelessness from being inherited. Another concern is the issue of registration of the birth of a child, which is one of the first legal forms of recognition. Article 7 of the CRC urges contracting States to register the birth of a child. India passed the Registration of Births and Deaths Act in 1969122 which requires births to be registered within 21 days of its occurrence. However, in 2013 only about 71% of births were actually registered.123 The implementation of the Act is clearly inadequate, thus it is important that the Indian government takes steps in terms of uniform training and capacity building of authorities in charge of birth registrations so as to develop their competence. The monitoring or correct implementation of this procedure could be assisted by partnering with organisations such as UNHCR. This is central to reducing the risk of statelessness. Obtaining a birth certificate subsequently facilitates access to other forms of identification.124 India needs to move its nationality laws towards inclusive citizenship based on fairness and equal opportunities. Currently, Section 7A needs to be amended as it does not allow OCI registration to those who are/were citizens of Pakistan or Bangladesh, or if either of their parent, grandparent or great-grandparent is/was such a citizen. In July 2016, the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2016 was introduced to the Parliament and is currently pending approval. The Bill amends Section 2(1)(b) of the Principal Act, inserting a provision stating that “persons belonging to minority communities….who have been exempted” by the Government under Section 3(2)(c) of the Passport (Entry into India) Act, 1920, or any provisions from the Foreigners Act, 1946 shall not be considered as ‘illegal migrants’ by virtue of the Act. Thus certain persons from Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan who were formerly unable to apply for Indian citizenship would be eligible under Section 6 (naturalisation) if this Bill is approved. Moreover, it amends the Third Schedule reducing the time of residency required for naturalisation from eleven years to six years, speeding up eligibility to access citizenship.125 It also changes the definition of illegal migrants under Section 2(1)(b) of the principal Act and thus enables certain minorities to be eligible for citizenship. This would be a significant for stateless persons formerly considered ‘illegal migrants’ as it would remove the discriminatory provisions and practices of the principal Act. However, the proposed amendment seeks to grant citizenship mainly to non-Muslim minorities, while Muslims in the same situation would still be labelled ‘illegal migrants’ as per the principal Act. This is in contravention of international law, in particular the right to nationality “without distinction as to race, colour, or national or ethnic origin” (Article 5, CERD);126 but also India’s Constitution which guarantees equality before the law (Article 14) and does not permit discrimination on any ground (Article 15).127 122 The Registration of Births and Deaths Act, 1969 available at: http://mha.nic.in/hindi/sites/upload_files/mhahindi/files/pdf/rbd_act_1969.pdf 123 Registrar General, ‘Vital Statistics of India based on the Civil Registration System, 2013’, Ministry of Home Affairs, 2013, available at: http://www.censusindia.gov.in/2011-Documents/CRS_Report/CRS_Report2013.pdf 124 Indian archives: obtain birth certificate, available at: http://www.archive.india.gov.in/howdo/howdoi.php?service=1 125 Section 4, The Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2016 126 Article 5(iii), UNGA, International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, 21 December 1965, UNTS, vol. 660 127 Article 14 and 15, The Constitution of India, 1950 16