Scheme of automatic registration of births and deaths
Recently the central government is planning to reform the Civil Registration System (CRS).
The reforms will address existing problems such as longer registration time, lack of efficiency and lack of uniformity.
These problems lead to delays in registration of births and deaths. In addition, the coverage of registration is also less.
Citizen Registration System (CRS)
- It is a continuous, permanent and mandatory system of recording birth, death and stillbirth (death in the womb itself).
- The Birth and Death Registration Act, 1969 provides for compulsory registration of births and deaths.
- The Chief Registrar is mandated to publish a statistical report on registered births and deaths during the year.
- It is one of the main sources of data on important events in India. Other sources include the Sample Registration System (SRS) and the Census.
- It has also been linked to the National Population Register.
- Thus CRS is the only source to provide data related to birth and death rates at district level on regular basis.
There are following reasons for this:
- The census is conducted every decade.
- The Sample Registration System (SRS) is an annual exercise.
- The civil registration system provides legal identity to the individual. Also, it gives the citizen access to rights, which include rights like social benefits etc.
- The Registrar General of India (RGI) comes under the Ministry of Home Affairs. It coordinates and integrates registration activities across the country. However, these activities are implemented by the state governments.
Source – The Hindu
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