COVID-19, under-reporting behind low birth, death registrations in TS: Report
The birth registration in Telangana has decreased from 8,41,268 in 2019 to 6,69,320 while death registration decreased from 2,28,294 in 2019 to 2,03,127 in 2020, according to the data released by the Civil Registration System (CSR) office of the Registrar General of India.
By Sumit Jha Published on 9 May 2022 6:37 PM IST
Hyderabad: The birth registration in Telangana has decreased from 8,41,268 in 2019 to 6,69,320 while death registration decreased from 2,28,294 in 2019 to 2,03,127 in 2020, according to the data released by the Civil Registration System (CSR) office of the Registrar General of India.
It should be recalled that the COVID-19 pandemic broke out in March 2020. According to the state government, between March 2020 and 8 May 2022, Telangana reported only 4,111 deaths due to the virus.
Meanwhile, the CSR said that in Telangana, COVID-19 was one of the major causes of under-reporting of deaths. While the report did not mention COVID-19 deaths, according to the World Health Organisation, the estimated deaths due to the virus is 10 times more than the number of deaths reported in India.
CSR, however, said that the under-reporting was due to a lack of sub-registrars and statistical staff in municipalities, a large number of vacant posts of panchayats secretaries, and a lack of travelling allowance budget for statistical personnel working at the district level.
According to the National Health Family Survey- 5(NFHS-5), Birth registration among children under age five years in Telangana is 90% while death registration in the state is 73.2%.
In Telangana, only 72.9% (4,88,169) of birth registrations were completed within the prescribed time limit of 21 days, while 1,48,600 birth registrations were completed between 21-30 days. Also, 20,961 births were registered after a month and before a year, and 11,590 were registered after a year.
The state completed 65% (1,32,130) of death registrations within the prescribed time limit of 21 days.
Unified births and deaths software (UBD) developed by NIC is being used in the urban areas of the state and certificates are issued online by e-seva centres. All district magistrates, HOs (district registrars), and municipal commissioners/municipal health officers (urban registrars) were authorised to launch prosecutions and compounding of offences and they were once again instructed to exercise their powers, under section 23 of the Registration of Births and Deaths Act 1969, to improve registrations. The state has not reported or imposed any penalty for non-registration of deaths and births.
According to CSR, the sex ratio (the number of females per thousand males) in Telangana is 937. The sex ratio is an important indicator to map the sex differential of the population. The ratio was calculated after deducting the delayed registration of more than one year for the year 2020.
