Pune Municipal Corporation’s (PMC) health department has made a significant decision to allow private hospitals to register births and deaths online using the Central Civil Registration System (CRS), developed by the central government.

A circular regarding this move was issued by Dr. Neena Borade, Chief of the PMC's health department, to both municipal and private hospitals, marking a step towards streamlining birth and death registrations in the city.

This decision comes as a response to the ongoing delays in providing birth and death certificates to the citizens of Pune due to technical issues with the CRS system.

The CRS was first introduced by the central government in March 2019, replacing the earlier system where the municipal corporation’s Birth and Death Department handled all registrations.

Since then, the responsibility for registering these vital events has been shared between 15 regional offices of the health department, managed by sub-registrars and regional medical officers.

Starting from June this year, an updated version of the CRS system has been implemented. Under the new system, hospitals—including private and government facilities—will be able to record birth and death events directly through institutional logins provided by the PMC.

Hospitals will receive specific login IDs and passwords from the Birth and Death Department to ensure secure access.

To facilitate this transition, private and government hospitals are required to appoint personnel responsible for entering birth and death information into the system.

The PMC’s Birth and Death Department will conduct training for these staff members to ensure proper understanding of the system. Hospitals must report all births and deaths electronically and submit the original, supporting documents to the relevant sub-registrar and regional medical officer within three days of registration.

Dr. Manisha Naik, Assistant Health Officer of the PMC, expressed optimism about the decision, stating that it will simplify the registration process. All hospital-submitted entries will be verified by the PMC's health department before final approval is granted.

Dr. Sanjay Patil, Chairman of the Hospital Board of India, applauded the initiative but emphasized the need for proper training for hospital staff. He also urged the PMC to ensure that any technical issues with the CRS system are swiftly resolved to avoid delays.

Pune currently has 710 hospitals, with approximately 140 to 160 birth registrations and 60 to 70 death registrations recorded daily.