FIRST the good news: on Feb 21, 2026, Sindh carried out its first real-time digital birth registrations of four newborns at public teaching hospitals — a long-awaited move towards reducing bureaucracy and improving archaic processes. The first paperless registrations were accomplished under a digital framework that integrated these hospitals with Nadra’s Birth Notification Tool (BNT). The Sindh government and Nadra indeed deserve a pat on the back. Registration of birth at source hugely shortens delays, reduces errors and most importantly, eliminates the misery and frustration of obtaining birth certificates through union councils (UCs). One hopes that Sindh (and all other provinces) will not limit themselves to mere photo-op ceremonies but institutionalise these registrations as routine, real-time, at-source processes for every birth in Pakistan.
Now the bad news: according to Nadra’s annual performance report submitted to the interior ministry, approximately 31.9 million births registered with UCs have not yet been incorporated into Nadra’s database. This figure, however, excludes a far more critical and invisible group of children whose births were never ab initio registered with any UC. Historically, a significant proportion of children, as high as 50 per cent, remains unregistered with the UCs until they reach school-going age. It is, therefore, reasonable to conclude that there are at least between 50m and 60m children (and not just 31.9m), who have been deprived of the Nadra-issued Child Registration Certificate — in addition to their identity and status as Pakistani citizens.
What makes millions of parents so reluctant to register their children’s births with UCs, and why is there a need to entirely eliminate this process? Consider a semi-literate parent taking a day off from work to visit a UC office. In the absence of clear instructions or a defined procedure, he is compelled to seek guidance from equally bewildered strangers, who themselves are searching for the same information. Finally, he reaches a desk and is told to fill a birth certificate ‘application form’, that ought to be free, but must be obtained for Rs200. Little does he know that this is only the beginning of a bureaucratic hornet’s nest.
Why are millions of parents reluctant to register their child’s birth?
Collecting, fabricating, photocopying, attesting and notarising a plethora of cumbersome documents is next on the list. These include but are not limited to a hospital birth report in case of birth in a hospital, or an affidavit on a judicial paper attested by an oath commissioner, in case the birth took place at home. A certificate from a Lady Health Visitor/ doctor and an attestation from the area councillor are needed to further assure the authorities that the child was indeed born at home. As if this monumental redundancy were not enough, the applicant must also submit photocopies of the child’s mother, father and grandfather’s CNIC. The mother and father must present their original CNICs and give proof of residence such as a utility bill. Yet more cumbersome procedures, affidavits and expenses must be endured for delays beyond 60 days. More often than not, applicants would feel compelled to use contacts or speed-money to expedite the process and escape the torture.
Now that the real-time, at-source digital birth registration of four children at Sindh hospitals has broken the ice and dismantled the long-standing institutional inertia, its momentum must spread swiftly across Pakistan. The use of Nadra’s BNT should be made a mandatory mechanism to capture every birth in every hospital, health centre and home — generating birth certificates that are uploaded and acces-sible on Nadra’s website on the sa-me day. The red-undant and irrational requirem-ent of parents receiving an SMS from Nadra with guidance on completing registration via their UC must be done away with.
Regrettably, Pakistan has only a vague idea of its most precious asset — the number of children in schools, out-of-school, working, displaced, or simply missing from official records. The oft-repeated mantra of 26.2m out-of-school children has remained unchanged for the last many years, despite an estimated 18,000 fresh arrivals each day. Clearly, the state has failed to create a simple and fool-proof system that monitors and records every birth (and every death) in Pakistan. The time has come to eliminate the tortuous UC processes and implement nationwide, real-time digital birth registration of every child. Perhaps our decision-makers must disembark from their Gulfstreams and luxury Fortuners and redirect their attention towards ensuring not only real-time birth registration, but also effective, real-time family planning services.
Published in Dawn, March 10th, 2026.
