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Registration of birth goes up in Rajasthan

Special Correspondent

JAIPUR: Birth registration in Rajasthan, one of the low performing States, has gone up from 61.43 per cent in 2005 to 78.01 in 2006. In the rural areas it has increased from 42.29 per cent to 61.36 per cent during this period. According to the Registrar-General of India, the agency covering births and deaths, birth registration at the national level is 63.8 per cent.

“Of the 26 million children born every year, 10 million go unregistered. Two out of every five children go un-recognised and therefore do not exist for Government planning purposes,” said Sneha Siddham, Plan India coordinator, addressing a workshop on “Promoting Government-civil society partnerships” here on Wednesday.

The level of registration varied substantially across the States, she said. Grassroots level mobilisation initiated in the low performing districts of Rajasthan, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka by Plan India, through a network of NGO partners, had shown positive results, she said.

The registration of births and deaths is compulsory in India under the Registration of Births & Deaths (RBD) Act, 1969. As a signatory to the U. N. Convention 1989 on the Rights of the Child, the country also has the responsibility to ensure registration of all births, as registration of birth is the first right of the child.

On the occasion, Plan India discussed issues and successful case studies in the area of birth registration in Rajasthan.

The registration level could be enhanced with dissemination of IEC material and sustained awareness programmes among different stakeholders, it was pointed out. Plan India is currently working through 128 NGOs in 220 blocks across 75 districts in different States. “One of the biggest challenges in rural areas is that of registering births, which take place at home,” said B. S. Jat, Deputy Director (Registration), Rajasthan

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