Sample Registration System (SRS)

Objectives

• Sample registration of vital events (births, deaths) with additional particulars
• Provides estimated vital rates to supplement defective civil registration

Dates

• Started in 1964-65 (pilot surveys), operational since 1970
• Currently running
• Frequency: annual reports based on continuous enumeration of vital events

Organization and management

• Office of Registrar General of India, Delhi, and regional offices
• Enumeration conducted by temporary employees (including local officials)

Sampling

• Conducted at individual, household (and village) level.
• Sample (state level and rural/urban): 6671 units in 2000 (2235 urban units) covering 6.3 million people (1.4 in urban areas)

Publication scale

• Data published at state level (with rural/urban differentials)
• Volume: one volume per year.
• SRS bulletin (annual)
• Additional volumes: special studies (life tables, compendia, etc.)

Publication

• Paper format: annual volume (tables, analysis) and special analyses
• Electronic format: some more tables on the web
• Raw data: not available

Topics covered

• Births: sex, age of mother, rank, etc.
• Deaths: sex, age, cause of death, etc.
• Medical attendance at delivery, death
• special studies on SRS data (life tables, etc.)
• No data available on economic status, marriage, divorce, etc.

Website

• www.censusindia.net (latest information available for 2004)

Assessment

• Indispensable as the only dependable estimates on regional birth and deaths rates (including infant, child and maternal mortality)
• Good quality of estimates (with regional and temporal variation though)
• Special reports available (but alas not on the web)

Limitations

• Data published only at state level
• No raw data available

New features

• Samples renewed

Data more regularly published on the Census website