India

Impact of the universal birth registration campaign

Before the universal birth registration campaign was launched in 2005

Before the campaign, 59.5% of the general population had their births registered (figures for 2003, published in 2006), and 41% of under-fives were registered. The government does not provide numbers but only registration levels.

Following the campaign

According to figures from the Registrar General India published in 2009 (compiled for the years 2006-2009) 68% of the population were registered

Universal birth rights campaign strategy

Plan India’s UBR project, initiated in July 2005, focuses on linking birth registration to the issue of children’s right to their identity. It therefore targets the achievement of goal one of Plan International (India)’s Country Strategic Plan (2006-10): “Children in India grow up and develop in a safe and enabling environment that ensure that their right to protection and participation is respected and realised.” As mentioned in the country programme outline document for the strategic plan period, the expected results of the UBR project at the end of 2010 are to:

raise the percentage of children who have their births' registered from 57% to 80%;
increase in the level of awareness among all the stakeholders.

The project objective focuses on:

increasing demand among parents, community leaders and service providers for registration and certification;
improving and accelerating birth registration service delivery through capacity building of civil registration system functionaries;
piloting specific interventions to target and reach out to the most vulnerable children, such as street children in Delhi and Mumbai;
promoting the increase in analysis, compilation and use of civil registration data for macro level planning and programming for children.

Strategies

Awareness raising: information, education and communication activities and media campaigns to generate mass awareness among different stakeholders.
Skill building of different stakeholders.
Demonstration and replication: developing demonstrable models for awareness raising and improving registration rates for wider replication by government.
Coalition building: establishing coalition with like-minded individuals, NGOs/INGOs institutions, bilateral and multilateral organisations and youth groups for institutional learning and advocacy.
Building links with government: coordinating with the national, state and district government machineries for enforcement of the Registration of Births and Deaths (RBD) Act through regular dialogue and capacity building.

Target area

The states selected for the UBR campaign are low to moderate performers but there are districts where birth registration percentages are the lowest. These states are Rajasthan (nine districts), Karnataka (eight districts), Andhra Pradesh (eight districts), Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra as well as Delhi and Mumbai. The strategy in each has been tailored to realities on the ground. In each state, there is one nodal agency that works with a network of partner NGOs in the different districts. Plan started working with 52 NGOs across 173 blocks in 28 districts. These organisations have conducted situation analyses, district launches and orientation meetings for various stakeholders.

Approach

Plan India’s programmatic approach maximises the impact of its efforts at the national level by galvanising partnerships and working closely with partners such as the Office of the Registrar General, India (ORGI), UN agencies (specifically with UNICEF), national and international NGOs, and media agencies, etc.
In low performing states, like Rajasthan and Andhra Pradesh, Plan India targets the underperforming districts and continues to strengthen the network of local partners to facilitate review meetings, capacity building of government officials at the state, district and sub-district levels and implementation of grassroots awareness campaigns.
In better performing states where registration levels are higher, for example, in the southern states, the project focuses on accelerating the issue of birth certificates.
The UBR project supports state-wide federated structures of community-based organisations, including adolescent/youth alliances to accelerate and expand grassroots advocacy campaigns.
The project also focuses on building capacity of elected PRI [panchyayts?] members, NGOs, community-based organisations and adolescent/youth alliances on UBR, and recording vital events.
The project also supports the development of training materials and printing of registrar's manuals and certificates, etc.
It facilitates the development of multimedia information, education and communication materials and implementation of advocacy campaigns, ensuring that linguistic and cultural sensitivities are accommodated, and the communication needs of specific target communities are met.

UBR total budget (July 2005 – June 2009) – US$ 1,335,400

Outcomes

Policy and legislation changes

Plan India was requested to send in its recommendations when the Office of the Registrar General of India (ORGI) decided to look at amending the Registration of Births and Deaths Act. Amendments have been made and the Act is now with the law ministry for follow up.
In the state of Rajasthan, Plan India’s partner is a member of the inter-departmental coordination committee set up at the state level to discuss issues concerning birth registration. Based on the recommendations of this committee, the government has simplified the process of delayed registration and reduced the late fees to a minimum. For example, group affidavits have been introduced for registration of school-going children under 10 years, involving school authorities in identifying and registering children
In Delhi, group affidavits from NGOs were accepted for the registration of a group of street children.

Government capacity and practice

Plan India and partners have worked at the grassroots level providing training to government functionaries and helping to coordinate different workers at the village level, such as the health worker and the ECCD worker, to consolidate information on newborn children to ensure UBR. Plan partners have held orientation sessions for these workers emphasising the importance of birth registration and their role in the process. This has also included developing training modules for civil registration system functionaries, which state governments are also using for their training.
We have persuaded the state government to activate the block and district level committees that had been formed for birth registration. Although these committees existed, most were non-functional, but now they are working. They have been activated to sustain the momentum of birth registration and issue birth certificates in villages after the project is over.
Following advocacy with the registration agencies at different levels, the government is also providing adequate stationery for birth registration, a bottleneck in the past.
Birth registration has been put on the agenda of the village level meetings (gram panchayat) so that they can discuss the registration of children in the villages and the problems. The police have been instructed to provide information to the registrar about unidentified newborns.

Monitoring and ensuring the implementation of policy and legislation related to UBR

Plan supported the government in Rajasthan with joint monitoring visits with the key civil registration system functionaries and NGO partners at district, block and village level to resolve issues immediately and improve reporting levels. Following the success of these visits, the governments of Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka have also requested similar support. This is being undertaken for this year.
With persistent advocacy, inter-departmental coordination committee meetings started regularly in Rajasthan and Karnataka – these are a platform to find solutions to operational problem and issues. Plan India was invited to share information and data, and give recommendations from the implementing districts.
Local NGOs take part in the district/block level UBR programme review conducted by the state governments.
Feedback on bottlenecks and local village issues is given to state government functionaries quarterly.
We supported production and installation of 4,832 information boards for the state governments. They were displayed outside the office of the village local registrar to give important information on birth registration.

Creating incentives to increase the demand for birth registration

Since Plan’s intervention in UBR, the government of India has launched various schemes where production of a birth certificate is necessary to access benefits – these include the safe motherhood and promotion of institutional deliveries scheme, and girl child promotion).
The birth certificate is asked for at the time of school admissions.
On 15 August 2009, our NGO partner ECAT Bodhgram received a government award for achievements in birth registration in Karauli District, Rajasthan.
The Registrar General of India (RGI) recognised the chief registrars of the best performing states at the national conference of chief registrars.
The RGI recognised and appreciated Plan India’s efforts in creating demand through innovative approaches.
Appeal from the Chief Minister on November 14, 2006.

Waiver/reduction of costs

The Rajasthan government simplified late registration process and reduced its late registration fees to Rupees 1/- by amending rule 9 of its registration of births and deaths rules 2000 at the state headquarters.

Partnerships, coordination, cooperation, alliances and coalitions

The continuous engagement with the civil registration system has strengthened institutional partnerships with the government, both at the centre and the states. The government sees Plan India as a strong ally in executing social mobilisation campaigns to create public awareness of birth registration.
The campaign has improved interaction with stakeholders and facilitated better information flow between the government and NGOs. In most of the blocks where the project is being run, reporting has increased from 50% to 100%. There has been increased inter-departmental coordination and improved quality of registration.
There is an interface with the state government in every activity and at every step of the campaign for mobilising civil society for UBR.
Each state nodal partner has formed networks with like-minded organisations to promote UBR with multiplying effects in their respective working areas.
The UBR project has also made concerted efforts to expand partnerships with other players, like UNICEF. Plan India and UNICEF share a close working partnership on areas such as the selection of focus intervention districts, joint consultations and reviews, developing information, education and communication materials, sharing experiences through a common platform, like the newsletter Identity, or collective advocacy on certain issues with the government.

Community awareness

A national campaign was launched with television spots, leaflets and posters featuring the prominent film star Anil Kapoor, who has agreed to be Plan India’s goodwill ambassador for the UBR programme. The television spots were broadcast over the national television network by ORGI under its information, education and communication campaign.
There has been considerable progress and increase in the level of awareness and knowledge of birth registration and certification among local leaders, parents, youth groups and children due to effective partnership with community-based NGOs and community organisations.
1,200 street play (Nukkad Natak), puppet shows and kalajathas (cultural programmes) were organised for mass community awareness, 90,000 posters and 100,000 birth certificates printed to support the government campaign, and 4,988 wall paintings completed.
Lead NGOs also used official days, such as children’s day and independence day, and conducted mass rallies and signature campaigns on birth registration with children from local schools.
As a result of media advocacy workshops, the UBR programme is now widely covered in the media. After the workshops, the media has been paying, special attention to UBR-related issues – this has resulted in an increased demand for the birth registration and birth certificates.
Three TV spots were developed and translated into Kannada, Malayalam, Telugu, and Tamil for broadcast by the respective state government.
There have been digital displays on the importance of birth registration in nine railway stations in Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka.
A UBR animation film has been produced and shown in cinemas in Delhi and Maharashtra.
Children from Karnataka participated in a two-day workshop to produce their own school radio programme on UBR. The children, mostly rescued from child labour, school drop-outs and orphans, were given training on using the radio to disseminate information. Since most of them wanted to use songs and plays, they were given training on consolidating their ideas, scriptwriting techniques, etc. They were also trained in the use of simple equipment for recording, like the digital recorder and marantz (recording instrument). In their feedback, the children mentioned that UBR was not known to their parents and said they would spread this message to their relatives, neighbours and friends, and would also try to inform the anganwadi teacher if there was a birth near their residence. There were 407 narrowcasts of school radio programmes in 270 villages.
Bal Manch, or children’s clubs, have been an effective tool in spreading awareness in children’s neighbourhoods. Mothers and youth groups have also been actively involved in local awareness-raising activities and advocacy.
Appeal from the Chief Minister on 14 November 2006.

Ownership and sustainability (Have the duty-bearers, the state, taken responsibility? How have rights-holders, communities, and civil society been involved to ensure sustainability?)

Orders have been issued from the ORGI to take appropriate action to accelerate the process of civil registration.
All the partner NGOs have mainstreamed UBR in their mission and vision statement – to make UBR programme sustainable, technical training is being conducted for partners at programme unit level. The community is involved extensively in all information, education and communication activities, so it is taking ownership of UBR activities.
UBR is a common agenda item in the village/block level panchayat meetings and important stakeholders meetings, such as auxiliary nurse midwives and the village development community. Village leaders have given extensive support to the cause of UBR and have included it in their regular agenda.
UBR committees or village UBR groups have been formed to sustain UBR activities in the community. The committees/groups include village panchayat members, auxiliary nurse midwives, village accountants, and leaders from the community, youth groups and self-help groups.
Cultural troupes have been trained to perform regularly at village festivals and market days to keep up the demand.
Lok adalats (people’s court/forum) are being organised by all partners in villages/districts to discuss birth registration issues directly with govt functionaries.

The integration of the issue of birth registration with other programmes, such as maternal health.

Birth registration has been integrated with the issue of female foeticide in Bihar, Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh and Uttrakhand, under the Kopal project, aimed at raising awareness about female foeticide among the community, elected representatives, business associations, the medical profession and the media. The project follows the same strategy as UBR, working through NGO networks, and groups of youth and adolescents. A highlight of the Kopal project has been 175,000 birth registrations in the states where the programme was launched. It was later replicated by UNICEF in four further districts.

Registering the most marginalised and hard to reach communities (ethnic minorities, nomadic groups, orphans, street children, migrants and refugees etc)

As per the strategy, we piloted UBR for children in difficult circumstances in Delhi in 2006 and in Mumbai in 2007, with the aim of ensuring registration for the most marginalised and vulnerable children. Both cities have a large migrant population that does not have any form of identification, consists of daily wagers and survives on the streets or in slums. Focused and customised information, education and communication activities have been designed to raise the level of UBR awareness among such groups.

Since last year, we started focusing on the birth registration and certification of children in difficult circumstances, including ethnic minorities, nomadic groups, orphans, street children, migrants and refugees, in all the implementing areas. All the partners in different states are highlighting the issue of birth registration of these children to the local authorities. There are surveys to collate the data about children in difficult circumstances, and there has been situational analysis to assess the status of such communities in various states. Based on the same advocacy, local partners are initiating campaigns on the birth registration of children in difficult circumstances to the state government/civil registration system authorities

Tackling the related issues of migration, nationality and statelessness

Plan India has been lobbying and advocating with government to address the issue of birth registration of children of migratory populations. We facilitated a workshop where the deputy chief registrar and municipal commissioner shared their views on the registration of children in Delhi. They suggested looking into the options of group affidavits if local NGOs could provide legal documents, affidavits, and lists of such children.

Linking birth registration to other children’s rights, such as increased access to health, education, inheritance rights and protection from trafficking, child labour etc

Desktop research - “The Search for Identity: placing universal birth registration (UBR) within the framework of child rights in India” - was conducted.
There were various sessions on the Child Rights Convention (CRC), with all the partners highlighting the importance of articles seven and eight and their importance for birth registration.
Partners have been given capacity building sessions on the importance of birth registration with respect to child rights, against exploitations, child labour, child marriage, juvenile justice system, trafficking etc. The training has focused on child birth registration and certification. If a child has a birth certificate, they could be prevented against much exploitation and defended in various criminal cases (where age is mandatory).
Given a compiled report on UBR for the UNCRC alternative report, from the implementation areas.

Involving children in the UBR campaign

Bal panchayats (child forums)/children’s club have been formed in the implementing areas, where children discuss and take decisions on various issues of child rights. Here children, irrespective of their social background, come together to form plans of action in favour of children. During the UBR campaign, these children’s clubs played a vital role by assisting the local panchayats.
Children are being involved in community radio and narrowcasting programmes where they can ask direct questions to key stakeholders/government functionaries. The school radio programme developed many programmes that were broadcast on All India Radio (AIR).
A seminar on the right to identity was organised at the world social forum for children in difficult circumstances. Over 500 children from various organisations, including those who had earlier been part of the process of trying to acquire birth certificates for themselves, actively participated in this seminar. Children shared their concerns and the problems faced during the process, and came up with suggestions to make birth registration child-friendly.
A child-friendly report on UBR was produced by a children’s club from Andhra Pradesh.
Children are involved through various competitions, such as sketching and painting, slogan writing, essay writing.

Good practice

Community radio programmes. In terms of access, affordability, and addressing the literacy divide, radio is the most appropriate media for community empowerment. The UBR programme in Karnataka has had a strong community radio component, which has played a key role in spreading the UBR message. VOICES, an NGO specialising in development communication, was contracted to develop the script for community radio programmes. Subsequently it developed panel discussions, plays, etc. with the community, which were broadcast and narrowcast to make people aware of the importance of birth registration and the value of the birth certificates. Fifteen cassettes on UBR were prepared for the campaign. These highlighted where and how to get birth certificates, late fees, whom to approach for birth registration, the birth registration process etc. The cassettes included interviews with village registrars, auxiliary nurse midwifes and statistical officers on the importance of birth certificates.
School radio programmes on UBR. School radio programmes have been an innovative way of encouraging child participation by informing children in school about UBR, and training them in audio production to produce their own programme. The children understand the concept, write their own scripts, select appropriate characters from their group, and enact the audio drama. The children have now become reliable and responsible informants of UBR to their community. The trickle-down effect is apparent as they are engaged in the entire process of producing the radio programme. They are also encouraged by hearing themselves on All India Radio. The children are given basic radio skills, which can be used for other initiatives as well. The programme used voices of children from school with those rescued from child labour. It created a space for children to express themselves and work with a new medium. The programme informed participants - children who are drop outs, orphans and children rescued from child labour - about their rights and allowed them to open up and stand up for themselves. The awareness does not end with them, as word of mouth is a powerful medium to spread their word.
Lok Adalat: interaction between government and citizenry. After the community had become aware of the different aspects of UBR, there was a need for a mechanism to address the accountability of local government officials. Enquiries about UBR through the radio programmes motivated communities to interface directly with the relevant local government officials. The Adalat became the desired platform for change and a physical interface between government and citizenry, which strengthened both transparency and accountability.
Strong government-civil society partnership. The highlight of Rajasthan's UBR campaign was the strong support from the state government. In every activity and at all levels, the state government was extremely supportive of the NGOs. State NGO partner representatives were part of the quarterly review meetings of the Rajasthan state secretary, planning. The state government agreed to reactivate the block and district level committees, which were formed for accelerating birth registrations. Birth registration has also been put on the agenda of village gram panchayat meetings, and the police have been instructed to provide information to the registrar about unidentified newborns. State government has also simplified the delayed registration procedures, introduced group affidavits for registration of school-going children under 10, and reduced the late registration fee to one rupee. Village auxiliary nurse midwifes and accredited social health activists have been made responsible for reporting births. The government also provided adequate stationery for birth registration, a bottleneck in the past. Now there is so much government support for NGO grassroots initiative that they can directly approach the deputy registrar for problem solving. This has led to better support and response from district and block-level government officials. Civil registration system functionaries now play an active part in youth groups meetings, street plays, public meetings and self-help groups.
Customised information, education and communication activities. Information, education and communication activities focused on local demand and cultural practices, and were very much appreciated by the ORGI. Cultural folk dramas to create awareness of UBR have been very useful as people could understand the local dialect and script. Another effective activity has been the role plays and sketches about UBR organised in the community/village at nights - as the maximum number of people could attend, including men.
National campaign with goodwill ambassador. Plan India launched its nationwide universal birth registration campaign with renowned film star Anil Kapoor, who became its goodwill ambassador in India and formally endorsed the ”little one’s first identity”. Mr Kapoor unveiled a poster, and he was featured in TV spots produced by top filmmaker Govind Nihalani.

Challenges, gaps and barriers

Legislative barriers

Although the act is comprehensive and all-encompassing, there are some inflexibilities that pose practical barriers to registration. For example, the time allowed for registering the births is insufficient, and the procedure for registering a child late is complicated and more expensive for rural communities.

Systematic barriers

Lack of resources – lack of political will has led to inadequate financial allocations, insufficient and poorly trained personnel, ill-equipped offices, and shortage of necessary materials, including application forms, pens and even certificate themselves. In the absence of computerised systems, it may also be difficult to store registration documents safely.
Lack of a single administrative hierarchy for civil registration across the country and within states.
A lack of continuous capacity building opportunities for civil registrars has led to low levels of knowledge about the processes and procedures, reporting requirements and management of vital statistics.

Demand-related barriers

Lack of awareness among parents and guardians on the need and importance of registration and certificates leads to low demand.
Various cultural barriers, like entering the name of the child on birth certificates within the stipulated time.
People usually lose many days’ income to secure a birth certificate, which appears to have no immediate significance.

National level recommendations

The following recommendations for amendments to the Registration of Births and Deaths Act were made to the Office of the Registrar General, India.

The period of registration should be extended from 21 to 60 days.
The act should include provision to issue birth certificates as soon as the parents or the hospital authorities get the child registered.
The local registrar’s availability should be systemised through their presence on fixed days.
Birth registration could be added to the agenda of village gram panchayat meetings for better monitoring.
Certificates could be provided to the community through auxiliary nurse midwifes.
It should be possible to register at the place of residence instead of as well as the place of birth
There should be no age limit on registration.
A single department should issue birth certificates/registrations.
Mobile registration could be used for hard-to-reach areas.
For more people-friendly registration and issue of birth certificates, power should be given to panchyayts PRIs, school headmasters etc.
There should be relaxation in the rules for street and vulnerable children.
There should be regular IDCC meetings and follow up of their decisions and recommendations.

Future activities

Plan is working gradually to integrate UBR on to the agenda and activities of programme units/partners. To the same end, we have been conducting capacity building programmes for each programme unit.
Plan has been focusing on the birth registration and certification of children in difficult circumstances for the past two years in different project locations, and will continue to support activities proposed by partners for the current year also.
Plan India will be phasing out of the project locations by June 2010.

Do you have any high-profile supporters of Plan’s UBR campaign?

Anil Kapoor, India’s renowned film actor and cast member of the Oscar-wining Slumdog Millionaire, has been the goodwill ambassador of Plan India’s UBR campaign. He has given his support to the programme on various platforms.

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