Curious case of birth rate in City

35 per cent growth in four years baffles BBMP officials

According to the statistics with the Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP), the birth rate in the City which showed a declining trend till 2005 has suddenly reversed and started to grow by a whopping 35 per cent over the past four years.

Here’s one explanation for this new trend: In 2006, the boundaries of the erstwhile Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BMP) was redrawn to incorporate seven City Municipal Corporations (CMC), one Town Municipal Corporation (TMC) and 110 villages. Since 2001, the birth rate in the City declined by 14 per cent till 2006. But following the expansion of the City, the number of births increased from 86,000 to nearly 1,35,000 in 2009. “After the expansion of the BBMP, the number of birth cases registered with us have gone up considerably,” informed a BBMP official. According to the officials, the unaccounted births add up to only five per cent of the total birth rate in the City.

Officials believe that the number of births registered in the City have gone up due to the awareness among people to cash in on the various schemes that are available for newborns by the State. “The various State sponsored schemes for a girl child and other schemes for registering the children into schools have ensured some form of an increase in the registration for the birth certificate,” said the official.

The death rate has remained constant over the years hovering around 30,000 per year as registered with the BBMP. Officials estimate that 10 per cent of the deaths go unreported every year.

The BBMP is currently receiving nearly 12,000 applications every month for registering the death and birth of citizens in the City. On an average 600 applications come to the Palike each day for registration of birth and death certificates.