Kolkata: The Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) is doubling the number of daily issuance of birth and death certificates in the city in the backdrop of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise going on in full swing in the state, including Kolkata. The KMC that would regularly hand over 150 such certificates daily would increase the same to 300.
The KMC Health department which is responsible for issuing birth and death certificates have come across long queues for such certificates among the citizens since the start of the SIR process.
KMC has been issuing 150 such certificates on an average daily and many people have been compelled to return empty-handed after standing in the queue. Mayor Firhad Hakim has assured the citizens of suitable measures to address the issue.
The Health department has decided that from now on 300 certificates will be issued daily. Before Covid, the KMC used to give away 300 certificates daily. However, during Covid the online system was introduced and such certificates were issued through chat bots. Around 50 certificates were issued during Covid. After the situation normalised, the number rose to 150.
Presently, people from the adjoining Kolkata areas are also flocking the head office of the KMC at SN Banerjee Road for rectifying spelling errors, receipt of new certificates and various other problems. People have been complaining of the hardships faced by them due to delay in work related to birth and death certificates.
“We are deploying more manpower to ensure that citizens turning up at the civic body do not have to return without service.
We are hopeful that increasing the daily issuance of certificates to 300 would address the inconveniences faced by the common people,” a senior official of KMC’s Health department said.