February 18, 2007	Sunday	Muharram 29, 1428

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SWABI, Feb 17: Only 15 per cent of the newborn babies are registered with the District Registration Office in Swabi every year. Parents of the remaining children either don’t know about the government’s policy on births and deaths or simply ignore it.

This was revealed by speakers at a meeting organised by the Pakistan Coalition for Education (PCE), which was held in the Gadoon Amazai area and which dealt with the importance of the registration process.

The meeting was attended by representatives of the district administration and members of the local jirgas, besides residents of the region.

Like last year in the current one too children should be registered free of cost, enabling the poor people to get their children registered with the District Registration Office, said the speakers.

If the masses did not get their babies registered, the authorities would be in the dark about changes in population. This would only result in formulation of flawed policies, said the speakers.

Annually more than 6,000 children were born in the region, mostly in poor families who were largely unaware of the importance of registration, they said.

Amjad Ali, the coordinator of the PCE, said the government should make the registration process efficient, as the children were deprived of their basic rights due to the flawed procedures.

“The process is painfully slow but the officials have failed to come up with a good solution,” he remarked.

“The parents should be informed of the importance of birth registration and the non-governmental organisations should play their due role in this regard.”