Ahmedabad: About two years ago, AMC decided to introduce marriage certificates with photographs of the couple after receiving requests from several applicants. The civic body is yet to fulfil the promise made to citizens at its standing committee meeting held in Feb 2023.
The standing committee had promised to request the state govt to update the software — OLAKH 1.0 — to include photos on marriage certificates, and a request was made accordingly.
However, to date, no updates have been made to the state’s software, so marriage certificates still do not include photographs of the couple.
“For any individual travelling abroad, the verification of the marriage certificate is conducted. Some applicants request marriage certificates with photographs for foreign visas, but there is no provision for such certificates to be issued. In some cases, women need to update their documents, including Aadhaar cards, to reflect their husband’s name instead of their father’s after marriage. Requests are made for marriage certificates with photographs in such cases. The absence of photographs on marriage certificates causes difficulties in updating documents,” said an AMC official.
The official added that the birth and death registration department of the AMC handles the registration of birth, death, and marriage certificates.
All these certificates are registered using the state govt’s OLAKH 1.0 software.
“Marriage certificates are issued in a format determined by the state govt. Currently, the certificates do not include photographs of the couple. They are issued with the full names and addresses of the husband and the wife, along with the date of marriage. There was a discussion in the standing committee about issuing marriage certificates with photos. However, this is the responsibility of the state govt. The govt is preparing to implement new software, OLAKH 2.0, which is expected to issue marriage certificates with photographs of the couple,” he said.