Sindh Launches Real-Time Digital Birth Registration System
KARACHI: The Government of Sindh has operationalised the province’s first-ever real-time digital birth registration system in two major public teaching hospitals, marking a significant milestone in administrative reform and child rights protection.
According to an official handout issued from office of the Chief Secretary Sindh four newborns were digitally registered immediately after birth at Liaquat University of Medical & Health sciences and Ghulam Mohammad Mahar Medical College Hospital. The registrations were processed through the Birth Notification Tool (BNT) developed by National Database and Registration Authority under Sindh’s reformed Civil Registration and Vital Statistics (CRVS) framework.
The CRVS Pilot Project was launched in July 2025 with technical support from United Nations Population Fund, reflecting Sindh’s strategic commitment to ensuring universal legal identity, strengthening public service delivery, and modernising governance through digital integration.
The real-time system has been implemented under a trilateral agreement between the Health Department, Government of Sindh; NADRA; and the Local Government & Housing Town Planning Department. The agreement creates a structured institutional mechanism to integrate civil registration directly within health facilities, enabling secure and paperless birth registration at the point of occurrence.
By digitising birth notifications at source, the reform is expected to significantly reduce delays in issuance of birth certificates, eliminate manual errors, and curb fraudulent or duplicate entries. Officials say the system will also improve data accuracy for education planning, immunisation campaigns, social protection schemes, and disaster response. Real-time data on births will help the government better estimate population growth trends, allocate resources more efficiently, and strengthen evidence-based policymaking.
The pilot phase began in Hyderabad and Matiari districts, where staff from 36 public health facilities were trained. The first integrated real-time digital birth registration under the new CRVS framework was recorded at Sindh Government Hospital, Qasimabad, Hyderabad.
In the first phase of the formal rollout, 14 tertiary care hospitals have been electronically linked with NADRA. In the next phase, the system will expand to 19 major hospitals, 16 District Headquarters Hospitals, and 53 Tehsil Headquarters Hospitals, followed by Rural Health Centres and Basic Health Units.
The Government of Sindh aims to achieve 95 per cent birth registration coverage by 2028, with the long-term vision of 100 per cent digital registration across all public and private health facilities — a move that could transform child protection, public planning, and inclusive governance across the province.
