Birth registration of girls declined in Punjab by 31.5 percent

LAHORE: Birth registration of girls declined by 31.5 per cent between 2016 and 2020 in Punjab.

According to a report available with The News, the Punjab Commission on the Status of Women has requested the Local Government Department and Community Development to initiate women-centric measures to improve registration of women and girls. Furthermore, the department does not have gender disaggregated data about death.

The commission report suggests data about divorce registration has not been disaggregated by type (talaq, khula and talaq-e-tafveez). It has requested the department to simplify process of birth registration of boys and girls with a specific objective to increase the volume of registrations per year with a special focus on backward and far-flung areas. Additionally, it has asked the department to ensure availability of data about divorce registration disaggregated by type (talaq, khula and talaq-e-tafveez).

Local Government Department and Community Development Deputy Director Javed Bhatti admits birth registration of girls has declined by 31.5 percent between 2016 and 2020 and says parents don’t bother to approach union councils as Nadra issues B-forms without demanding Birth Registration Certificates of UCs.

The department had meetings with Nadra officials and they assured it that B-forms will be issued to parents after production of BRCs. Another department official says record must be maintained at UCs level.

According to Punjab Commission on the Status of Women Secretary Tariq Khan Niazi, it is not easy to prepare a gender parity report in given restrictions placed due to pandemic. He says this report covers the period of 2019 and 2020. It provides a detailed view of gender parity in Punjab across six thematic areas --- demographics, governance, health, education, economics participation and opportunities and justice.

He says the report shows considerable progress against most indicators; data about 2019 and 2020 depicts a steadily increasing female labour force participation rate in Punjab, declining fertility and maternal mortality rates over the years.

A rising number of young women aged 15-24 years in higher education and professional fields have also been noted, along with a higher number of women in managerial positions with a better GPI of 0.321.