New Delhi, March 15 : Eighty-five percent of all births and 70 percent of deaths in the country are now being registered, the government said on Tuesday.

Minister of State for Home Haribhai Parathibhai Chaudhary told the Lok Sabha that the government had taken a number of steps for improving the registrations of births and deaths.

The minister said in a statement that a nationwide data base of medical institutions where births and deaths occur had been prepared.

The government had also developed a web-based application to issue birth and death certificates free of cost, he said.