Question : Registration of Births

(a) whether according to the recently released data in National Family Health Survey (NFHS-4), three in five children (62.3 per cent) under the age of five had their births registered and possessed birth certificates in 2015-16 and if so, the details thereof;

(b) whether those born before 2005, especially from the poorest sections, Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and families with no schooling are more likely to not have birth certificates and if so, the details thereof;

(c) whether according to United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF) 2019 report, India is among the five countries with others being Ethiopia, Nigeria, Congo and Pakistan, that are home to half of the world’s 166 million children whose births have not been registered; and

(d) if so, the reaction of the Government thereto?

MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF HOME AFFAIRS
(SHRI NITYANAND RAI)

(a): According to National Family Health Survey (NFHS-4), birth of
79.7% children under the age of 5 years was registered during 2015-16 in comparison to 41.2% in 2005-06.
(b) to (d): Any birth which is not registered within one year of its occurrence can be registered based on an order by a Magistrate of the first class after verifying the correctness of birth and on



payment of the prescribed fee. Birth registration in India during 2017 is 84.9%.According to UNICEF 2019 report, birth registration percentage in Ethiopia, Nigeria, Congo and Pakistan is 3%, 47%, 96% and 34% respectively.

*****