CHILD Protection & Rights > Child Protection Issues.

Why Birth Registration is essential for the Child Protection?

Apart from being the first legal acknowledgement of a child's existence, registration of births is fundamental to the realization of a number of their rights. “Without birth registration, children are invisible in official statistics.” The State of the World’s Children 2006. Excluded and invisible. UNICEF, p.36.

Birth registration is essential in protection efforts, including: reducing trafficking, preventing child labor by enforcing minimum-employment-age laws; countering child marriage ensuring that children in conflict with the law are not treated (legally and practically) as adults; shielding them from underage military service or conscription; and, as well as assisting children who are repatriated and reunited with family members.

Securing children’s right to an official recognition helps ensure access to basic services, including immunization, health care and school enrolment at the right age. It also allows them to get a passport, open a bank account, obtain credit, vote and find employment.

In summary, Birth registration is a necessary step to access number of practical needs and fundamental rights including:

Situation in India

The registration of births & death in India has been made compulsory under the Registration of Births & Deaths (RBD) Act, 1969.

At national level only about 56 per cent of the births are being covered by the registration machinery. In absolute numbers, of approximately 26 million births taking place each year, close to 12 million births are not registered. Only 19% of children less than five years of age possess a birth certificate. Birth registration is comparatively lower in rural areas as compared to urban areas and there are large interstate variations.

The level of registration varies considerably across the states. Some of the states and UTs such as Arunachal Pradesh, Goa, Gujarat, Jammu and Kashmir, Karnataka, Kerala, Maharashtra, Mizoram, Nagaland, Punjab, Tamil Nadu, A&N Islands, Chandigarh, Daman & Diu, Delhi, Lakshadweep and Pondicherry have achieved above 80% registration of births while some other States such as Assam, Bihar, Manipur and Rajasthan are able to register less than 40 per cent of the births. Among the other state/UTs, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Orissa, Sikkim, West Bengal, Tripura, and Dadra and Nagar Haveli’s level of birth registration is in the range of 80 -60 per cent, whereas Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Meghalaya and Uttar Pradesh are in the range of 60 -40 per cent

Source: National Commission on Population

The Registration of Birth and Death Act, 1969, provides for the State Governments to frame rules for the establishment of the registration machinery in the State and procedures for registration. The Act provides for a Chief Registrar at the State level, District Registrars at the District level and Registrars at the Registration Centre to discharge the functions under the Act. At the Central level the Registrar General, India is to coordinate and unify the activities of the Chief Registrars and issue general directions to the State governments regarding registration.