News: A new set of data from the Civil Registration System (CRS) shows that about 86.5 lakh deaths were registered in the country in 2022, substantially lower than the peak of 2021 which had seen a big spike in deaths due to Covid pandemic. Civil Registration System (CRS)
About Civil Registration System (CRS)
- It is popularly known as birth and death registration system.
- It is the recording of vital eventse. Birth, Death & Still Birth under the statutory provisions on continuous and permanent basis.
- CRS falls under the Concurrent list of the Constitution of India at No. 30.
- Nodal Ministry: Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA)
- Statutory provisions: The registration of birth and death is done under the provisions of a central Act namely Registration of Births and Deaths (RBD) Act, 1969 (amended in 2023).
- Under the provisions of RBD Act, 1969, the registration of birth and death is mandatory.
- The events of births, still births and deaths are registered at the place of occurrence of the event i.e where the event took place, within 21 days from occurrence of event.
- Registration Functionaries
- Central level: The Registrar General of India (RGI) at the Central level coordinates and unifies the activities of registration throughout the country.
- The Office of the Registrar General, India, (ORGI) obtains data on causes of death from the Chief Registrar of Births and Deaths of different States and Union Territories, under the Registration of Births & Deaths Act, 1969 (amended in 2023).
- State level: The State authority (Chief Registrar) has been declared as the chief executive authority in the respective State for implementing the provisions of RBD Act.
- District level: The District Registrar for each district within the State is responsible for carrying into execution the provision of RBD Act.
- Local level: At lowest level, the Registrars are responsible for registering the events occurred in his/her area of jurisdiction and issue certificates of birth and death.
- Central level: The Registrar General of India (RGI) at the Central level coordinates and unifies the activities of registration throughout the country.
- Features
- The RBD (Amendment) Act, 2023 makes it mandatory for all medical institutions to provide a certificate as to the cause of death to the Registrar and a copy of the same to the nearest relative.
- Certification of Cause of Death (MCCD) – an integral part of the Vital Statistics System, aims at providing a reliable and temporal database for generating cause-specific mortality statistics.
- Significance
- Vital statistics generated from civil registration significantly contribute to the formulation of effective and efficient evidence-based policy across multiple sectors.
