Latest news with #CivilRegistrationSystem
New Indian Express
4 days ago
- Health
- New Indian Express
Hyderabad to adopt new birth, death registration system
HYDERABAD: As part of efforts to implement a uniform system for birth and death registration across the country, Hyderabad is set to adopt the new Civil Registration System (CRS), also known as the Registration of Birth and Death Rules 2022. The CRS is managed by the Office of the Registrar General of India (ORGI) under the Ministry of Home Affairs. Currently, the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) uses its own software for online registration of births and deaths. However, several instances of fake birth and death certificates being issued have come to light, prompting the termination of health assistants and computer operators and the suspension of some Assistant Medical Officers of Health (AMOHs). Once Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy clears the file, GHMC will switch to the ORGI's CRS platform to curb such malpractices and ensure uniformity. GHMC officials told TNIE that the move aligns with ORGI's push to standardise registration processes, certificate issuance and statistical data generation. The CRS software developed by ORGI is already being adopted in various states, Union Territories and cities across India. Officials said the software allows real-time monitoring of data, tracks registration activity, preserves records digitally and ensures issuance of uniform certificates with a unique registration number for every event.
The Print
5 days ago
- Politics
- The Print
India deserves better than M-O-D-I: Misinformation, Opacity, Distractions, Incompetence
Whether disseminating fake figures, brushing off aviation calamities with words like 'nobody can stop accidents' – as home minister Amit Shah put it after the AI 171 crash – the only thing the Modi government can celebrate after 11 years is how successfully it has mastered the art of refusing to tell the truth. And thereby escape all accountability and responsibility. Just days earlier, in another shocking tragedy, four were killed and several injured after falling from two local trains in Mumbra in Maharashtra. Around the same time, a BBC News Hindi report found that as many as 82 people died in stampedes at the Kumbh Mela earlier this year, against the official figure of 37. Weeks earlier, it had emerged through the government's own Civil Registration System (CRS) data that official Covid-19 death figures were wrong, and that the actual death toll was at least six times higher . The highest falsification of these figures was in Gujarat, where the Covid mortality rate was 33 times the earlier stated deaths. In the week when the Bharatiya Janata Party launched a familiar drumbeat to celebrate 11 years in power, the worst aviation tragedy in recent years occurred in Ahmedabad in Prime Minister Narendra Modi's home state of Gujarat. Over 270 were killed. The country was plunged into grief, outrage, anger, and mourning. The Modi government does not honour our national motto – Satyamev Jayate (Truth alone must triumph). And here's how I came to that conclusion. Negligent, unaccountable system Under high voltage advertising and boastful self-promotion, the government is plagued by the M-O-D-I syndrome—Misinformation, Opacity, Distractions, and Incompetence. After 11 years of M-O-D-I, there is nothing to celebrate. The government's constant drive for headline management, its pursuit of hype, its industrial-scale disinformation campaigns carried forward by its media and social media armies, and its wall-to-wall projection of Modi as a superhero, are obsessive, fantastical, and delusional. This frenzied focus on media management and self-aggrandisement has infused a recklessness and shoddiness in all governance systems and institutions. Narendra Modi plays a T-20 version of politics, forever on the lookout for stage event-managed spectacles and well-rehearsed theatrics that grab eyeballs and TV viewership. When the top leader is a media showman focused on photo-ops, the system down the line becomes negligent and unaccountable and is not incentivised to carry out due diligence at any level or pay attention to detail. The railway ministry seems only focused on media images of the PM flagging off Vande Bharat trains, less concerned with safety and the grim toll of rail accidents that seems to be rising every day. About 244 consequential rail accidents took place between 2017 and 2022. On 12 June – the very same day of the catastrophic Ahmedabad plane crash – a train running from Delhi to Ghaziabad derailed near Shivaji Bridge station, with its fourth coach falling off the tracks. The Modi government keeps trumpeting the opening of new airports, yet hundreds of posts in the civil aviation sector lie vacant, depriving crucial areas of aviation of adequately trained staff. Earlier this year, Parliament was told that staffing shortages are particularly acute at the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), with nearly 48 per cent of its positions currently vacant. The Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS) and the Airports Authority of India (AAI) are also operating with 37 per cent vacancies, according to official data. According to data shared by the Ministry of Civil Aviation in the Lok Sabha, 814 out of the 1,692 approved posts at the DGCA are vacant. Once again, M-O-D-I strikes. Despite glitzy airport openings and the media orchestra tom-tomming about privatisation, the civil aviation sector, in reality, is infected with a misinformation, obfuscation, distraction, and incompetence syndrome. Also read: India's decade of vulnerability needs political unity, not freebies Dangers of performative politics The Modi-led government has not told citizens the truth about Covid-related deaths, nor told citizens the truth about fatalities at Kumbh Mela stampedes. Even during Operation Sindoor in May, the government displayed a tendency toward wilful misinformation mixed with deliberate opacity on the gains and losses that India experienced during the conflict with Pakistan. The constant inclination is not to inform but to mislead, not to educate but to incite, not to enlighten but to confuse. Modi practices politics like performative art, constantly creating dramas that further polarise society, while the television media plays out its own circus where anchors play the role of ringmasters of lies. Bombast and bluster are unleashed 24×7 to supply online armies and their generals with ammunition to attack critics and dissenters. The Opposition is denigrated repeatedly, but an aura of invincibility is created around a prime minister, always photographed from the most flattering angles possible. When top leaders practice performative politics, when those at the very top do not hesitate to tell lies, this culture of M-O-D-I percolates from the top down to the lowest rungs. Preoccupied with only communicating deliriously fantastical images of Viksit Bharat, and stubbornly refusing to tell the truth, glitzy fakery is in danger of becoming the default mode of this government. The only achievement that this government can 'celebrate' after 11 years is the unequalled ability to market itself through a captive, irresponsible media and showcase its talent at artful headline management. In 2016, the Modi government bellowed about demonetisation as a 'master-stroke' against black money. But eight years later, there is every indication that cash is back in the system. There has been no systematic audit on demonetisation's gains and losses. Parliament has still not been told in detail what impact the Covid-related lockdown had on employment and the informal sector, or how many Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) were forced to shut down. Six years after the ghastly attack in Pulwama in 2019, citizens still don't know who has been held accountable for the deaths of 40 jawans of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF). There is no reliable information available on the cases the Enforcement Directorate is pursuing, beyond that many of them are against the Opposition. But given that most ED cases do not lead to convictions, who in the ED is accountable for what prima facie is a vendetta-cum-washing machine campaign against the Opposition? In times when the ravages of climate change are sweeping across the planet, the prime minister keeps announcing ambitious climate targets at international conferences. But why has Parliament, and the people, still not been properly informed on what steps are being taken to protect the environment and push sustainability forward? The Modi government's campaigns, such as 'Ek ped maa ke naam (plant a tree in the name of your mother)', and claims that the scheme resulted in 80 crore seedlings planted, are hardly enough. Such programmes are like childish playthings, tinkering with names and nursery games instead of putting real, research-based policies in place or disseminating accurate information. Today, India's GDP numbers have been questioned because of a fog of disinformation on the economy, the latest being the media-hyped headline that India's economy had overtaken Japan's. A more sober assessment would be to also admit that Japan has a per capita income of $33,900 while India's per capita income is a pitiful $2,880. India ranks 143rd in the world in terms of per capita income, while Japan ranks 34th. And it ranks 105th out of 127 in the 2024 Global Hunger Index. No logical explanation either has been given as to why the decennial Census (now slated for 2026) was delayed for six years. The Modi government was economical with the truth on the Pahalgam terror attack, when the home minister told an all-party meeting that the Baisaran meadow had been opened to tourists without police permission. But it was later revealed that no police permission has ever been needed for Baisaran, and the place is a highly popular tourist spot. There is still a mystery over India's declining relations with Canada. What has been the Indian government's investigative response to allegations regarding the murder of Canadian Khalistan supporter Hardeep Singh Nijjar? Has India's deep state been engaged in hiring trans-national gangs for extra-judicial 'encounters' that have ruptured foreign relations with 'friendly' Western democracies? We still don't know. Also read: Modi vs non-BJP CMs: When most popular isn't all-powerful & why Centre-state ties will worsen Ask no questions To every question, the answer is the same: ask no questions. If you do ask questions, you'll be dubbed an anti-national by online bullies and the government's vast army of cheerleaders and 'influencers.' But the simple yet glaring fact is that the Modi government does not tell the truth. It is a hype machine that wants to rule by diktat and arrogantly conveys that it has no respect for the public's right to know. Interestingly, in a press conference held to mark 11 years of the Modi government, it was BJP President JP Nadda who came out to answer questions. Why? Why should the BJP chief answer on behalf of the government? Why should the prime minister or chief executive not take questions from the media? Are we then surprised that we rank 151/180 in the world press freedom index? There is a disdainful, shallow and narcissistic condescension in the way Modi turns his back on answering questions either in public or in a press conference. Modi loves acronyms. But M-O-D-I should become a descriptive term for a non-functional and inefficient government, a government which, for 11 years, has been a regime of Misinformation, Opacity, Distractions, and Incompetence. Sagarika Ghose is a Rajya Sabha MP, All India Trinamool Congress. She tweets @sagarikaghose. Views are personal. (Edited by Zoya Bhatti)
The Hindu
7 days ago
- Health
- The Hindu
Just 10% of target met, govt. plans sex determination inspection reboot
The Delhi government is planning to increase inspections at clinics and diagnostic centres to curb sex determination tests after meeting just 10% of the target. Only 715 inspections out of the planned 7,096 were conducted between April 2024 and March 2025 across 1,774 medical facilities in the city that are registered under the Pre-Conception and Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques (PCPNDT) Act, 1994, according to the Health Department's annual report. To address this gap, the department will urge district authorities to prioritise inspections under the Act and form additional teams to conduct them, officials said. The Act mandates quarterly inspection of every clinic, with penalties including fines and imprisonment for those conducting sex determination tests. Though Delhi fell short of its annual target, it was still an improvement from the previous year, when just 455 inspections took place across 1,737 facilities such as diagnostic centres, speciality clinics, maternity and ultrasound centres, and IVF clinics and hospitals. Action against violators In March, Delhi Health Minister Pankaj Kumar Singh had launched a web portal to enhance action against violators of the Act. He said Delhi being the Capital must lead by example in eliminating sex determination practices. The Act applies to medical practitioners (geneticists, gynaecologists, paediatricians, sonologists, radiologists, and imaging specialists) and owners of facilities (genetic counselling centres, genetic clinics, and laboratories), imposing penalties for violations. While ultrasound machines can be used to detect genetic abnormalities and other disorders, using them for sex determination is prohibited under the Act. In 2024-2025, authorities took action against violators, issuing 70 show-cause notices, suspending 13 clinics, cancelling 53 registrations, and sealing 22 ultrasound machines. According to the district annual report, inspections remained low across districts, with the percentage of targets met ranging from 5.69% in North West district to 15.88% in West district. Under the Act, the Central government has to appoint one or more Appropriate Authorities for implementing its provisions. According to a 2014 gazette notification, Delhi's Deputy Commissioners and District Magistrates were designated as Appropriate Authorities in their respective districts. Despite attempts via e-mails and calls, The Hindu received no response from authorities across 11 districts on the low rate of inspection. Impact on sex ratio Delhi's sex ratio at birth improved from 896 in 2014 to 922 in 2023, according to the Civil Registration System data. However, despite the overall improvement over the decade, the ratio has been declining steadily since 2020, from 933 that year to 932 in 2021, 929 in 2022, and 922 in 2023. Dr. Neelam Singh, a gynaecologist and member of the National Inspection and Monitoring Committee, constituted under the PCPNDT Act, stressed the importance of quarterly inspections. 'Every clinic is to be checked quarterly and a report is to be made,' she said. She noted that increased inspections in States such as Haryana, Rajasthan, and Maharashtra have led to improved sex ratios, suggesting that stricter enforcement can deter sex determination practices. Doctors at Delhi clinics report that despite the Act being in place for 30 years, they still receive requests to determine the sex of a child, although such requests have decreased over time. A gynaecologist on condition of anonymity said about 10% of couples still request sex determination, but are counselled on its illegality. She said some couples opt to travel to countries like Thailand or the UAE, where sex determination is allowed and gender disclosure is standard practice. 'Ramp up efforts' 'Of late, district authorities are saying they are preoccupied with other tasks,' a Health Department official said, adding that the department will urge them to form more inspection teams and prioritise inspections to improve the sex ratio. The official explained that inspections also include monitoring advertisements for sex determination, random checks of Form F (a mandatory record to track ultrasound scans, where patients and doctors declare no sex determination is done), and noting inconsistencies like missing records. Inspections may also include decoy operations, the official said.
Hindustan Times
14-06-2025
- Health
- Hindustan Times
Home Ministry data shows more under-25 deaths in 2022 than in 2021
The Sample Registration System (SRS) is considered to be the most authoritative statistical source on births and mortality in India, especially the latter. However, the 2022 SRS numbers on deaths, which were released on June 12, are quite perplexing, to put it mildly, for two reasons. One, they suggest that significantly more under-25 people died in 2022 than not just in 2021 but also on average in the three years before the Covid-19 pandemic. Two, this trend is in contrast with what is seen in the total registered deaths as seen in the Civil Registration System (CRS) data for 2022. The SRS is the official source of crude death rate (CDR) or number of deaths per thousand population in India. It is conducted by the Registrar General of India, the nodal agency which works under the home ministry and is also responsible for conducting the census in India. The SRS has been conducted since 1969-70, and currently works on a sampling frame of more than 8000 units (parts of villages and towns) covering more than 8 million people. 2022 SRS gives an all-India CDR of 6.8, significantly lower than the 2021 number which was 7.5. The fall in CDR between 2021 and 2022 is intuitive, given the fact that 2021 was the deadliest year of the pandemic, and is estimated to have led to around two million extra deaths compared to the 2017-19 average. However, what is surprising about the 2022 CDR number is that it is still significantly higher than all years until 2013 except 2021. The 2022 death rate of 6.8 applied to the projected population for the year projects 9.38 million deaths in the year. If the death rate in the year was six, as in 2019, the year immediately preceding the pandemic, there would have been 8.28 million deaths in 2022. Estimated deaths in 2022 are also around 1.1 million more than the average estimated deaths for 2017-19 period. What is even more perplexing about the mortality data in 2022 SRS is that the higher overall death rate is a result of death rates rising among people under 25 years (except the under-five age group) not just compared to 2021, but also the three-year pre-pandemic average. Death rates for older age groups have actually declined in 2022 compared to 2021, which is understandable given the excess mortality within these cohorts due to Covid-19 pandemic in 2021. The 2022 SRS death rates for the under-25 age groups look even more counterintuitive when read with the 2022 CRS numbers. The latter show a decline in deaths from 2021 CRS for almost all age groups. To be sure, the CRS analysis excluded Maharashtra, as the 2021 CRS did not publish age-wise death registrations for the state. What explains the rise in death rate in 2022 SRS data compared to 2021 for the younger population? We know what does not. Did more people die from things such as accidents and suicides in 2022 than 2021 or the three-year pre-pandemic average? Another set of statistics from the home ministry show that this cannot explain the rise in death rate in 2022. National Crime Record Bureau's Accidental Deaths and Suicides (ADSI) data records 430,504 and 170,924 deaths from accidents (including natural ones, such as heat strokes or avalanches) and suicides in 2022. This number was 397,530 and 164,033 in 2021; 421,104 and 139,123 in 2019; and an average 409,837 and 134,509 during the 2017-19 period. At best this can account for 57,082 thousand extra deaths and not the 1.1 million number which emerges from a comparison of 2022 SRS with the 2017-19 SRS or applying 2019 death rate to 2022 population projection. The other factor which could explain the otherwise perplexing trend of more young people dying in 2022 than in 2021 or than the 2017-19 average could be some sampling discrepancy in the 2022 SRS numbers. But this is difficult to establish without access to the unit-level data which the SRS does not publish. The Home Ministry refused to answer an HT query on why the SRS shows a higher death rate for under-25 people in 2022 than 2021 or pre-pandemic years.
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Business Standard
11-06-2025
- Politics
- Business Standard
Bihar logged 891 girls per 1,000 boys in 2022, lowest sex ratio at birth
Bihar has recorded the lowest sex ratio at birth (SRB) in India for 2022, with just 891 girls born for every 1,000 boys, according to the latest Vital Statistics of India based on the Civil Registration System (CRS) report released by the Office of the Registrar General of India. The state is also the only one in the country to register a consistent year-on-year decline in its sex ratio at birth since 2020. From 964 girls per 1,000 boys in 2020, the ratio dropped to 908 in 2021, and has now further declined to 891 in 2022. Priyanka Gandhi slams Bihar government over sex ratio figures Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Monday (June 9) took to X to attack the NDA government over the data. 'On the one hand, the continuous atrocities on women and on the other hand, the worst situation in the country in terms of sex ratio, is an indication that Bihar's double engine is proving to be dangerous for women,' she remarked. What does the low female sex ratio mean before Bihar elections? The data arrives at a politically charged moment, as Bihar heads into its next Assembly election in 2025, and political parties begin crafting campaigns aimed at the state's significant women voter base. Several states like Jharkhand, Maharashtra and Haryana have already seen major political parties use cash transfers and welfare guarantees to woo women. Bihar is likely to see similar strategies. But how do you offer schemes for women when the very number of girls being born is steadily falling? The CRS data raises uncomfortable questions: How meaningful are these promises of empowerment if fewer girls are being born in the first place? Which other states have low or high sex ratios at birth? Bihar's downward spiral on the sex ratio at birth stands in contrast to some of the worst-performing states from previous years, many of whom have shown improvement in 2022. Assam, for instance, which reported the lowest SRB in 2021 (863), has improved its ratio to 933. Meanwhile, Maharashtra (906), Telangana (907) and Gujarat (908) trail Bihar on the lower end of the spectrum, but none show a multi-year declining trend like Bihar does. At the other end, Nagaland (1,068) recorded the highest SRB in 2022, followed by Arunachal Pradesh (1,036), Ladakh (1,027), Meghalaya (972), and Kerala (971). The overall national average stood at 943 girls per 1,000 boys, placing Bihar well below the national line by a margin of 52 points. More births in Bihar but fewer girls Despite the troubling ratio, Bihar reported the third-highest number of births in India in 2022, registering over 3.07 million births. However, the gender breakdown tells a stark story: of these, only 1.31 million were girls, while 1.47 million were boys. The absolute gap between male and female births in Bihar—over 160,000—is the widest in the country. Across India, 25.44 million births were registered in 2022, up from 24.2 million in 2021, suggesting a post-pandemic rebound. But the gender split remained skewed nationally as well: 52.4 per cent of the births were boys, while only 47.6 per cent were girls. Urban areas accounted for 56.5 per cent of these births, while rural India logged 43.5 per cent. What are the national trends in birth and death registrations? The CRS report also shows that registered deaths fell sharply in 2022, down to 8.65 million from 10.22 million in 2021, the year India faced the brunt of the Covid-19 pandemic. Male deaths (60.4 per cent) continued to outnumber female deaths (39.6 per cent). A majority, 59.5 per cent, of deaths were reported from rural areas, with urban areas accounting for 40.5 per cent. The report noted that the number of stillbirths also declined to 115,000 in 2022 from 124,000 the year before. Gaps in the data system The CRS and Medical Certification of Cause of Death (MCCD) reports for 2022 have been released in quick succession, just weeks after the long-delayed release of 2021 data. However, the third crucial pillar of demographic statistics, the Sample Registration System (SRS) report, which offers estimates on birth and death rates and is considered the most rigorous of the three, is yet to be made public for 2022. That absence is conspicuous, especially as the SRS is the only source that includes unregistered vital events, making it crucial to validate CRS trends. Where is the system failing in Bihar? The CRS report, while primarily a statistical compilation, hints at systemic issues: Bihar's birth registration within 21 days remains in the 50–80 per cent compliance category, indicating significant delays and possible underreporting, especially in rural regions where gender bias is often more acute. Despite 3.07 million registered births in 2022, the SRB is so low that it suggests selective registration, possible under-reporting of female births, or worse, prenatal sex selection and female foeticide. The state has conducted 4,522 inspections of registration units and 4,768 health institution inspections in 2022, suggesting a reasonable administrative apparatus. Yet, the declining numbers point to social behaviour outpacing state regulation. Bihar, notably, did not submit data on penalties imposed under Section 23 of the RBD Act, which allows punishment for non-registration or false reporting, implying weak enforcement against malpractices in birth registration. What are the implications of a declining sex ratio? The consistent drop in sex ratio at birth in Bihar, within a short three-year span, is a demographic red flag. It suggests either a disturbing preference for male children, possible misuse of sex-selective technologies, or under-reporting of female births. The CRS report, prepared from statutory returns submitted by State Registrars, is not a survey—it is a legal record. If even official records show such a grim picture, the reality may be worse. Bihar has long struggled with gender inequality, poor female literacy, low female labour force participation, and high maternal mortality. But the latest data shows the challenge is now being carved into demography itself.
