14 Jul 2026SOCIETY & SOCIAL ISSUES3 questions

From 56% to 99%: India Has Quietly Solved the Problem of Counting Its Own People

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Article summary

The Office of the Registrar General and Census Commissioner has released Vital Statistics of India based on the Civil Registration System, 2024, recording 99.1 per cent birth registration and 99.4 per cent death registration — near-universal coverage for a country that registered only about 56 per cent of births and 48 per cent of deaths as recently as 2000. In absolute terms 2,54,73,389 births were registered in 2024, while registered deaths rose to 89,38,301 from 86,59,679 the previous year. Eighteen states and union territories achieved 100 per cent birth registration and twenty-one achieved 100 per cent death registration. Infant deaths recorded fell to 1,20,992 from 1,45,992, and stillbirths declined to 81,117 from about 1.01 lakh. The sex ratio at birth stood at 917 females per 1,000 males — improving, but still below the biologically expected range of roughly 950 or above, which is the report's most consequential finding. Registration has been driven by institutional deliveries, the documentary requirements attached to schooling, welfare and inheritance, and digitisation under the 2023 amendment to the Registration of Births and Deaths Act, 1969.

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recallTests whether you read the article and retained key facts.

applicationTests whether you can apply the concept to a new scenario.

analysisTests whether you can reason across multiple related facts.

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SOCIETY & SOCIAL ISSUESRecallEasy

Q1. With reference to India's Civil Registration System (CRS), which one of the following statements is correct?

AIt is a large sample survey used to estimate fertility and mortality rates for the country and the States.

BIt is conducted once every ten years, alongside and as part of the decadal Census.

CThe Registration of Births and Deaths Act, 1969 requires a birth or death to be reported within ninety days of its occurrence.

DIt is the continuous, permanent and compulsory recording of vital events under the Registration of Births and Deaths Act, 1969, administered by the Office of the Registrar General and Census Commissioner.

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SOCIETY & SOCIAL ISSUESApplicationMedium

Q2. Birth registration rose from about 56 per cent before 2000 to 99.1 per cent in 2024. Which one of the following best explains the mechanism behind that rise?

AThe certificate became indispensable — for school admission, government appointment and the issue of identity documents — while institutional delivery created a point of capture, so registration was solved by making the document valuable rather than by penalising its absence.

BPenalties for failing to register a birth were raised sharply by the 2023 amendment to the 1969 Act.

CThe statutory reporting period was extended from twenty-one days to one year, giving families far longer to comply.

DRegistration was made a precondition for enumeration in the decadal Census.

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SOCIETY & SOCIAL ISSUESAnalysisHard

Q3. Consider the following statements regarding the Civil Registration System 2024 report: 1. It records a sex ratio at birth of 917 females per 1,000 males. 2. Because registration is now near-universal, a low sex ratio at birth can no longer be attributed to differential under-registration of girls. 3. The Civil Registration System and the Sample Registration System are the same instrument, the latter being the digitised form introduced by the 2023 amendment. Which of the statements given above are correct?

A1 only

B1 and 3 only

C1 and 2 only

D1, 2 and 3

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