Context: Recently, the Registrar General of India released data related to birth rate, death rate and infant mortality rate in its Sample Registration System (SRS) bulletin for 2018.
Key findings 
On Birth Rate:

• Birth rate is a crude measure of fertility of a population and a crucial determinant of Population Growth.
• India’s birth rate has Declined drastically over the last four decades from 36.9 in 1971 to 20.0 in 2018.
• The rates are Calculated per one Thousand of the Population.
• The rural-urban differential has also narrowed. However, the birth rate has continued to be higher in Rural Areas compared to Urban Areas.
• Bihar (26.2) continues to remain at the top of list in birth rate while Andaman and Nicobar (11.2) is at the Bottom.

On Death Rate

• The death rate of India has witnessed a significant decline over the last four decades from 14.9 in 1971 to 6.2 in 2018.
• The rates are calculated per one thousand of the population.
• In the last decade, death rate at an all-India level has declined from 7.3 to 6.2. The decline has been steeper in rural areas.
• Chhattisgarh has the highest death rate at 8 and Delhi, an almost entirely urban state, has a lowest death rate of 3.3.
• Mortality is one of the basic components of population change. The data related to it is essential for demographic studies and Public Health Administration.

Infant Mortality Rate:

• Infant mortality is the number of deaths of children under one year of age per 1000 live births.
• IMR has decreased to 32 about one-fourth as compared to 1971 (129).
• The IMR at an all-India level has declined from 50 to 32 in the last decade.
• Madhya Pradesh has the highest IMR of 48 and Nagaland has the lowest IMR of 4.

About Sample Registration System (SRS)

• In the late 1960s, the Government of India initiated the Sample Registration System (SRS).
• It aims to provide reliable estimates of birth and death rates for the States and also at All India level.
• At present, the Sample Registration System (SRS) provides reliable annual data on fertility and mortality at the state and national levels for rural and urban areas separately.
• In this survey, the sample units, villages in rural areas and urban blocks in urban areas are replaced once in ten years.
• The data largely reflects past trends as far as the position of states is concerned with marginal improvements at national level on health indices.
• Initiated on a pilot basis by the Registrar General of India in a few states in 1964-65, it became fully operational during 1969-70.

About Registrar General of India

• Registrar General of India was founded in 1961 by the Government of India under the Ministry of Home Affairs.
• It is responsible for arranging, conducting and analysing results of demographic surveys of India including Census of India as well as Linguistic Survey of country.
• The post of the RGCC of India is usually held by a civil servant holding the rank of Joint Secretary to Government of India. It is responsible for conducting the decennial Census.