Centre releases India's civil registration system report for 2020

New Delhi [India], May 3 : The Central government published the Civil Registration System (CRS) report 2020 based on birth and death reports on Tuesday.
CRS is a universal, continuous, compulsory and permanent recording of birth, death and stillbirth, stated the data. Registration of birth and death is done under a central Act "Registration of Birth and Death Act (RBD), 1969".
According to CRS, death registration has increased by 4.75 lakh in the year 2020 as compared to 2019.
These figures include deaths due to COVID-19 and other reasons.
There was an increase of 4.87 lakh and 6.90 lakh in death registrations in the year 2018 and 2019 respectively. The number of registered deaths has increased from 76.4 lakhs in 2019 to 81.2 lakhs in 2020.
Out of the total registered deaths, the share of males and females is 60.2 per cent and 39.8 per cent.
As per the draft MCCD Report-2020, which is yet to be published, out of the total registered deaths (81,15,882 lakh), 18,11,688 have medically certified CoD. Out of 18,11,688 medically certified deaths, 1,60,618 have been certified as COVID deaths in 2020.
According to the data released, the number of claims settled and ex-gratia relief from SDRF (as of 24 March 2022) is 7, 24,279.
Maharashtra, Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, West Bengal, Nagaland, Haryana, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Sikkim, Punjab, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, Rajasthan, Andaman & Nicobar island and Assam recorded an increase in death rate in 2020 with respect to 2019.
Bihar saw the maximum increase in the death rate with 18.3 per cent (3,59,349 deaths in 2019 which increased to 4,25,047 in 2020) followed by Maharashtra with 16.6 per cent (6,93,800 in 2019 and 8,08,783 in 2020) and Assam with 14.7 per cent (1,63,057 in 2019 to 1,87,085 in 2020).
Meanwhile, states like Manipur, Chandigarh, Telangana, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Puducherry, Arunachal Pradesh and Kerala saw a decrease in death rates in 2020 with respect to 2019.
Manipur saw a -25.4 per cent decrease in the death rate (2,990 in 2019 and 2,230 in 2020). Chandigarh saw a -22.1 per cent decrease in the death rate (23,592 in 2019 to 18,370 in 2020). Telangana recorded a -11.0 per cent decrease in the death rate (2,28,294 in 2019 to 203127 in 2020).
Deaths due to COVID, as per the MoHFW website (as of April 28, 2022) are total 5,23,693. Out of which 1,48,994 people died in the year 2020, which increased to 3,32,492 in 2021 and 40,207 in 2022.
The National Report was published for the year 2019 in June 2021. It was delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The country registered a 73.7 per cent birth rate. The number of registered births has decreased to 2.42 crores in 2020 from 2.48 crores in 2019. Out of the total registered births, the share of males and females is 52.0 per cent and 48.0 per cent respectively.
In case of registration of births within the prescribed time period of 21 days, 15 States/UTs namely Gujarat, Puducherry, Tamil Nadu, Chandigarh, Lakshadweep, Mizoram, Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman & Diu, Punjab, Haryana, A & N Islands, Himachal Pradesh, Odisha, Goa, West Bengal and Andhra Pradesh have achieved more than 90 per cent registration of births to the total births registered, stated the data.
Two states i.e. Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh have achieved more than 80 per cent to less than or equal to 90 per cent registration of births within 21 days.
Further, nine states like Tripura, Rajasthan, Kerala, Telangana, Bihar, Karnataka, Meghalaya, Jharkhand and Jammu & Kashmir are in the category of more than 50 per cent to less than or equal to 80 per cent in registering within the stipulated time period of 21 days and the remaining seven states namely Uttar Pradesh, Manipur, Uttarakhand, Ladakh, Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, and Nagaland are under the category of less than or equal to 50 per cent in completing the birth registration within the time limit of 21 days.
Lakshadweep, Bihar, Haryana, Sikkim, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan recorded an increase in the registered birth rate.
Lakshadweep recorded the maximum change in the birth rate of 14.3 per cent (947 in 2019 to 1082 in 2020) followed by Haryana with 11.7 per cent (5,29,992 in 2019 to 591914 in 2020) and Bihar with 8.4 per cent (28,09,167 in 2019 to 30,44,931 in 2020).
However, states like Nagaland, Puducherry, Telangana, Manipur, Delhi, Arunachal Pradesh, West Bengal, Kerala, Gujarat, Karnataka, Himachal Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Assam, Tamil Nadu, Uttarakhand, Maharashtra, Mizoram, and Chandigarh recorded a decrease in the registered birth rate.
Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) last week decided to introduce changes in the Civil Registration System (CRS) in India as the country has been facing challenges in terms of timelines, efficiency and uniformity leading to delayed and under-coverage of births and deaths in the country.
The history of CRS in India dates back to the middle of the 19th century. In 1886, a Central Births, Deaths and Marriages Registration Act was promulgated to provide for voluntary registration throughout British India.
Post-independence, the Registration of Births and Death Act (RBD Act) was enacted in 1969 to promote uniformity and comparability in the registration of births and deaths across the country and compilation of vital statistics based thereon. With the enactment of the Act, registration of births, deaths and stillbirths has become mandatory in India.
The Registrar General, India (RGI) at the Central Government level coordinates and unifies the activities of registration throughout the country. However, implementation of the statute is vested with the state governments.
The registration of births and deaths in the country is done by the functionaries appointed by the state governments.
The directorates of Census Operations are the sub-ordinate offices of Office of the Registrar General, India and these offices are responsible of monitoring of working of the Act in their concerned state and Union Territory.
The Act mandates the use of uniform birth and death reporting forms and certificates throughout the country.