Birth registration rates poor due to poverty

Birth registration rate is low in char and remote areas of the country due to their extreme poverty and illiteracy, reports BSS. According to representatives of local bodies at Hatiya Upazila of Noakhali district. About 40 per cent people were registered in the Nijhum Dwip (island) of the district while 20 per cent birth registration took place at Naler Char and Boyar char. There are nine chars in Hatiya Upazila, most of the people are illiterate. They are living there in extreme poverty. Very few people of the chars know the benefit of birth registration. According to the Upazila administration, the percentage of birth registration is 60 in the Hatiya Upazila. The people who are living in the costal and char areas being extremely poor, it is very difficult for them to give Tk 50 for birth registration certificates. So, local body representatives said, the fee should be withdrawn to make the birth registration programme a success.