Sri Lankan authorities on Wednesday announced that all birth certificates issued in future will not mention the race, religion or marital status of the parents.

Registrar General of the Registrar General's Department, N. C. Vithanage, told local media that all details pertaining to marriage, ethnic group and religion will be removed from the application form for the registration of a birth in Sri Lanka although this was mandatory earlier.

Local media reports said that this decision was taken after many children in the country were reportedly facing issues due to details of the marriage of parents, especially when enrolling a child in school.

Under the new system, a 12-digit serial number is to be issued for all new birth certificates and this serial number can be used to obtain a national identity card when a child reaches 15 years of age, Vithanage said.

The new digital birth certificate will come with a QR code, a bar code and a dedicated watermark to meet international standards to counter forgery.