Why does the CRS data matter? The Civil Registration System (CRS) collates data on all births and deaths registered with local authorities across India.
It releases its report around 18 months after a year ends. The 2020 report was released on Tuesday, at least a month before schedule.
Such data can be of significance during a pandemic as possible covid-19 deaths may not have been categorized as such in official records.
The CRS can help us reach an estimate by using the “excess deaths" approach, which is the difference between the total number of deaths registered in a pandemic year and the number of deaths that normally take place in a year. What does the 2020 data show? The CRS report for 2020 has recorded deaths of 8.12 million Indians, 6.2% more than 2019.