WHY IN NEWS:
The office of the Registrar General of India (RGI) cautioned private and government hospitals to report incidents of births and deaths
Registrar General of India (RGI) Directive : Hospitals must report births and deaths within 21 days to ensure compliance with the Registration of Births and Deaths (RBD) Act, 1969 (amended in 2023). `
Registration Deficit: About 10% of births and deaths remain unregistered despite progress towards universal registration.
RBD Act 2023 Amendment: Mandatory registration of all births and deaths; failure leads to enhanced fine of up to ₹1,000(previously ₹50).
Civil Registration System (CRS): Government hospitals act as registrars; private hospitals must report events.
State-Level Variations: Different departments oversee registration across states—health, panchayat, economics & statistics.
Centralized Digital Registration (Effective Oct 1, 2023): Digital birth certificates serve as the sole proof for admission, jobs, marriage registration, electoral rolls, property registration.
Data Integration: Birth and death records to update National Population Register (NPR), ration cards, etc.
Concerns by RGI: Some hospitals delay registration; registrars urged to issue birth/death certificates within seven days.
- Vital Statistics of India Report: Not published since 2020; essential for policy planning and public health evaluation.
- Decline in Registered Births (2020): Dropped by 2.4% from 2.48 crore (2019) to 2.42 crore (2020); while registered deaths increased to 76.4 lakh.