The Sample Registration System (SRS) was initiated in India in 1964-1965 to provide reliable demographic data for planning purposes, as birth and death registration was previously voluntary and incomplete. The SRS provides annual estimates of population composition, fertility, mortality, and medical attention at birth/death for India and major states. It covers about 8.1 million people based on a system of dual recording of births and deaths in representative sample units. Key estimates include population by age/sex, fertility rates, mortality rates, and maternal mortality. The SRS is implemented by the Office of the Registrar General and involves state census offices and part-time enumerators.

1. Sample Registration System
Dr T R Dilip,
International Institute for Population Sciences
Course C1: Introduction to Demography and History of Population
MBD/MA/MSc/MPS
30th Sept 2021

2. WHY SAMPLE REGISTRATION
SYSTEM (SRS) STARTED?
• Need for demographic data soon after independence
for planning (five years plan)
• Registration of births and deaths were voluntary and
incomplete
• Registration of Births & Deaths Act, 1969, the poor
coverage of registration and non reliable data
• Office of the Registrar General, India, initiated the
scheme of sample registration of births and deaths in
1964 65 on a pilot basis
• Stated Sample Registration System (SRS) and on full
scale from 1969-70.
• SRS providing data on regular basis since 1971.

3. Who Implements SRS
• Carried out by the Office of Registrar General & Census Commissioner,
India
• Directorates of Census Operations, Map Division and the SRS Wing of the
Vital Statistics Division
• State Census Directorates
• Supervisor belonging to the statistical cadre of the State Census
Directorates
• Part-time enumerators (PTEs) are recruited from school teachers,
anganwadi workers, and other similar functionaries who live in the sample
unit
• Dual record matching done at the office of Directorate of Census
Operations for all States except for rural areas of Kerala and Maharashtra,
where it is done at the Directorate of Economics and Statistics
• Compilation and reporting by the RGI & Census Commissioner Office

4. SAMPLE REGISTRATION SYSTEM
IN INDIA: OVERVIEW
• SRS is the most regular source of demographic statistics in India
• SRS is one of the largest demographic surveys in the world covering
about 8.1 million population
• The SRS sample is revised every ten years based on the latest
census frame
• based on a system of dual recording of births and deaths in fairly
representative sample units spread all over the country
• SRS provides annual estimates of (a) population composition, (b)
fertility, (c) mortality, and (d) medical attention at the time of birth
or death which give some idea about access to medical care.
• Estimates available for India and bigger States/UTs (with population
>10 million) separately for rural and urban areas

5. WHAT ESTIMATES DOES SRS
PROVIDE?
• Population Composition: (age group & marital
status- M/F & R/U)
• Fertility Indicators: (CBR, Sex Ratio at Birth, ASFR,
GFR, TFR, GRR, Marital Fertility, Birth Order, Birth
Interval & medical attention at birth)
• Mortality Indicators: CDR, ASDR, IMR, NNMR,
U5MR, Perinatal mortality, Still Birth Rate, &
Medical Attention at Death.
• Maternal Mortality,
• Life Tables

6. SRS sampling frame
• The main objective of SRS is to provide reliable estimates of birth
rate, death rate and infant mortality rate at the natural division
level(NSS Based) for major States and at the State level for smaller
States.
• Based on Census: frame consists of villages or village segments in
rural areas and census enumeration blocks in urban areas
• earlier sample was based on the reliability of birth rate at the State
level
• The 2004 and 2014 sample is estimated using IMR with an
acceptable margin of error, along with financial and operational
constraints

8. Structure of the Sample Registration System

10. KEY SRS Publications
Now Available : https://censusindia.gov.in/2011-Common/Sample_Registration_System.html
SRS Bulletins
SRS Statistical Report
Special Bulletin on Maternal Mortality in India
SRS Based Life Table
Compendium of India's Fertility and Mortality Indicators ,1971 –
2013
Causes of Death Statistics

11. Activity: Viewing the publications

12. Evaluations of SRS in India
Dates Study Design Findings Ref.
1970-
1975
Indirect estimate
(Brass 1975)
6% under reporting of adult deaths RGI, 1982
1971-
1976
Indirect est. (Brass
1975; Preston & Coale
1980)
10% under reporting of deaths.
Insignificant interstate variations.
Excluded Bihar & West bengal for poor
data quality.
Bhat et al.
1984
1978 Indirect est. (P/F ratios,
UN 1983, Ch-II)
6% under reporting of births. State
underestimates in 1978 ranged from
<1% (Guj) to >17% (KA)
RGI 1984,
Swamy et al.
1992
1980-
1981
Intensive inquiry of
10% subsample
3% under estimation of birth and death
rates. State underestimates around 1%
(Guj, Har, MP) to 11% (KA)
Grover 1988;
Swamy et al.
1992.
1985-
1986
Intensive inquiry of
10% subsample
State underestimates, <1% (AP, BI, Guj,
KE, MP,, MH, OR, TN) to >3% (AS, WB)
Swamy et al.
1992.
… … … …
1978-
1992
Comparison of SRS
with NFHS fertility est.
At least 10% under registration of births. Narasimhan
et al. 1997
12

13. Usefulness of Statistical Indicators
• Accuracy
• Relevance
• Comparability
• Timeliness
• Accessibility
13

14. Overall Accuracy of SRS Data
Coverage: Covers about 0.6% of India’s population. However, its
representative character allows for estimation of vital
statistics for the country and major states.
Completeness: Around 90% registration of events upto 1980s.
Interstate differences narrowed down by mid 1980s.
Completeness appears to have worsened during the
1990s and after. Interstate differences in
completeness appears to have widened also.
Missing data: Generally believed to be low, but no information
about missing data. Annual report should include a
table showing the number of births and deaths for
which age or sex information was not available and
how those events were treated through the
tabulation process. Also a table regarding timeliness
of monthly returns from the state level offices.
14

15. Timeliness of SRS Annual Reports
Production
Time:
Median production time: 2 ½ Years
1970s: 6 ½ Years
1980s: 2½ Years
1990s: 2 Years
2000-07: 1 Year 10 Months
Regularity: SD of Production Time: 32 Months
Lumping of annual reports in a publication year:
Publication Year 2000: 1997, 1998
Publication Year 2004: 2001, 2002
Publication Year 2006:
Latest available is 2018 data
2004, 2005
2020
15

16. Accessibility of SRS Publications & Data
Data Annual reports in print form only. Half yearly bulletins in
print; and pdf files through internet since April 1999,
electronic data better
Metadata: More elaborated can be made available. Annual report
gives details of sampling, system of data collection and
definition of terms.
But population figures in statement A or 1 are not
available by sex.
From 1993, the population figures are rounded to
nearest 000, reducing scope for consistency checks and
indirect estimation of accuracy of SRS statistics.
User Service: Sale counter at RGI’s head office delivers reports across
the counter and responds to requests over post.
Regional sale counters in state capital do not usually
stock all publications.
RGI library in Delhi does not have a reference set of all
SRS publications. 16

17. Sources of vital statistics in India and their usability.
17
Source &
Periodicity
Estimated
Parameters
Small area estimates Usability
SRS
Annual,
Since
1970
Fertility & Mortality
Indicators
State level est. for big
states, recently, intra state
regions .
Representative sample,
Regular reports, Reliable.
Census 10 Years
Pop. count by age
sex, area, IMR &
Child Mortality
Population count down to
village level, Mortality:
District level.
Reliable & valid pop. Data in
ab. 2 years. Ab 5-6 yr lag for
indirect est. of Fert. & Mort.
CRS
Annual,
1958
Fertility & Mortality
Indicators
District level and large cities
with 10000 pop.
Poor coverage till 2000,
Improved but not evaluated
Comparability over time due
to varying coverage, , Wide
interstate variation. Av time to
publication 45 months until
1994, Bur now < 2years
NFHS
Not well
defined
I:92-93,
II:98-99,
III:05-06,
IV:15-16,
V. 19-20
Fertility & IMR
(Indirect Estimates)
State level estimates.
Indirect estimates. Quick est
available within a year. Small
sample size.

18. Resources
• Mahapatra P. The Sample Registration System (SRS) in India, An Overview, as of 2017
https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Prasanta-
Mahapatra/publication/326098440_The_Sample_Registration_System_SRS_in_India_An_Overview
_as_of_2017/links/5b38dd820f7e9b0df5e21fd3/The-Sample-Registration-System-SRS-in-India-An-
Overview-as-of-2017.pdf
• Office of the Registrar General & Census Commissioner, SAMPLE REGISTRATION SYSTEM
STATISTICAL REPORT 2018 https://censusindia.gov.in/2011-
Common/CRS_2019/CRS2019_report.pdf
• RGI: Sample Registration System
https://censusindia.gov.in/Vital_Statistics/SRS/Sample_Registration_System.html
• RGI: SPECIAL BULLETIN ON MATERNAL MORTALITY IN INDIA 2016-18
http://censusindia.gov.in/vital_statistics/SRS_Bulletins/MMR%20Bulletin%202016-18.pdf
• RGI: SRS Bulletins:
https://censusindia.gov.in/vital_statistics/SRS_Bulletins/SRS%20Bulletin_2018.pdf
• RGI: Compendium of India's Fertility and Mortality Indicators ,1971 – 2013
https://censusindia.gov.in/vital_statistics/Compendium/Srs_data.html
• RGI, SRS Based Abridged Life Tables (2014-18):
http://censusindia.gov.in/Vital_Statistics/SRS_Life_Table/SRS%20based%20Abridged%20Life%20
Tables%202014-18.pdf
• Yadav, A.K. and Ram, F., 2015. Assessment of completeness of birth registrations (5+) by sample
registration system (SRS) of India and major states. Demography India, 44(1&2), pp.111-8.

19. Thank You