Pakistan records highest number of unregistered Births and Deaths

Citizen identification systems are fundamental for citizens and for the State in its role as a public service provider. From a citizen’s identification perspective, the life cycle begins in the Civil Registry, materialised by a birth certificate subsystem, and ends in the same subsystem through the issue of a death certificate. But in Pakistan, this basic form of citizen identification system remains largely absent.

According to Unicef’s annual report 2023, 60 percent of children in Pakistan are not registered before their fifth birthday. This makes Pakistan the country with the highest number of unregistered children globally.

Pakistan indeed faces a significant challenge with birth and death registration. Approximately 60 million children in Pakistan remain unregistered. This lack of registration can lead to various issues, including difficulties in accessing education, healthcare, and protection from child labour and early marriages.The scale of the problem remains substantial, and both birth and death registration in Pakistan faces significant challenges.

The country has a few systems in place, but they are often underutilised or inefficiently implemented. Different provinces have their own rules and systems. For example, Punjab has the Punjab Local Government (Registration of Births and Deaths) Rules 2021.

Pakistan’s existing system of obtaining a birth certificate requires an applicant to fill a form in Urdu and English, manufacture an affidavit on stamped paper, write an application to the union council chairman, produce a birth report issued by the hospital where the child was born, attach Computerised National Identity Card (CNIC) copies of the mother, father and grandfather, and deposit a fee of Rs200. For children born at home, one also needs copies of the midwife’s CNIC and certificate, along with the statements and CNIC copies of two witnesses, all attested by a Grade-17 officer and above. Cantonments also ask for a copy of the property tax payment receipt.

The National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA) has implemented a Civil Registration Management System to facilitate the registration of births, deaths, marriages, and divorce Despite these systems, many births and deaths go unregistered due to factors like lack of awareness, bureaucratic hurdles, and limited access to registration centres, especially in rural areas. This indicates that Pakistan is still a long way to go to ensure comprehensive and efficient registration across the country.

Birth registration in Pakistan faces several significant barriers because of the failure of successive governments to create proper national databases. Many people in rural areas are unaware of the importance of birth registration and its benefits for their children. The process can be complicated and time-consuming, with many forms to fill out and documents to provide. Poverty is so pervasive in Pakistan that even the small fees associated with registration can be prohibitive for families. The bulk of Pakistani communities are backward with firm beliefs in traditional practices which discourage formal registration. As a state Pakistan has failed in providing its citizens access to healthcare professionals who can assist with the registration process during childbirth. Further there appear to be no attempts to address these barriers with any interventions, such as mobile registration units, community awareness programs, or simplifying the registration process.

So complicated and slow are the country’s registration procedures that dying in Pakistan is much easier than obtaining a death certificate. Almost 50% of deaths in Pakistan are not registered, nor are the CNICs of the deceased cancelled.

This has led to the promotion of a huge number of ghost pensioners and dummy voters. The existing death certificate procedure poses at least 10 hurdles for the heirs to cross. An application form in English and Urdu, a fee of Rs200 for the form, the death report from the hospital, an attested affidavit on stamp paper of Rs100, a graveyard report, a photocopy of the CNIC of the deceased and the applicant, the family registration certificate, an NOC by all heirs on a Rs100 stamp paper, and, for the cantonments, a copy of the last property tax paid. If the heir survives to receive a death certificate successfully, yet another process must be initiated with Nadra to request the cancellation of the deceased’s CNIC.

Pakistan’s much touted NADRA (National Database and Registration Authority) has  faced significant challenges in maintaining a comprehensive and secure database of its citizens. Bureaucratic delays and inefficiencies in the registration process have made it difficult for many citizens to obtain their identity documents in a timely manner. Users often report problems with the online registration system, such as verification failures and glitches in the PAK-ID app. The process can be slow, with long wait times for processing applications and resolving issues. Many rural and remote areas lack easy access to NADRA centres, making it difficult for residents to register. There is poor coordination between NADRA and other government agencies, which further complicates the registration process.

Additionally there have been multiple instances where NADRA’s database was compromised, leading to the theft of personal information. For example, a major breach affected over 2.7 million citizens. The system has been susceptible to hacking and unauthorised access, undermining its reliability. Suffice to say NADRA offices lack the necessary resources and infrastructure to handle the volume of registrations effectively.

Maintaining a comprehensive and accurate database of citizens is crucial for effective governance and service delivery. However, Pakistan is still struggling with this. One reason is that Pakistan has limited technological infrastructure which hinders the development and maintenance of a robust database. Contemporary identification practices through databases open up new ways of institutional and governmental practices across various sectors. So naturally, an incomplete database implies a lack of public service provision in governance. After all, if a person doesn’t exist and is not a citizen, the state cannot be held accountable for lack of governance services.

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