KMC
“We have been unable to take applications through our Chatbot due to the malfunctioning of the state portal. Worse, the KMC birth certificate wing personnel are struggling to process and clear more than 20,000 such cases that have been pending due to the closure of the state portal and Chatbot service a few months ago.
The malfunctioning of the state govt’s Janmo Mrityu portal has created the crisis, according to a KMC health department official. Sometimes, we allow four-five applications a day, that too in the early morning hours,” said the civic official. Kolkata: Do you need a digital birth certificate as a document for passport renewal ? Or are you in a desperate search for such a certificate for admission of your son/daughter? You need to wait but it isn’t clear how long. The Chatbot service is not functioning, leading to a halt in the service through which the citizens apply for copies of birth certificates. Our Chatbot now ceases to function. The closure order was given as the state govt wanted to probe into ‘irregularities’ in applications for birth certificates during the SIR hearing. Sources in the KMC health department conceded that a racket was back to extort citizens, taking advantage of the existing crisis and police verification of birth certificates for passport renewal that necessitates speedy handover of documents. A KMC health department official conceded that the civic headquarters was getting flooded with complaints about unnecessary harassment in the name of submitting documents.
Madhuchhanda Bose from Tollygunge complained about a KMC birth certificate wing clerk who, despite submitting the photocopy of an existing birth certificate and hospital discharge certificate for her son, was asked to wait for a month or else pay Rs 10,000 if she was in a hurry. Then, when he succeeded, he was told to wait for 15 days for his document verification. The official pointed out that the manual clearance system that existed before Covid struck would take care of around 300 applications per day.
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“I was told that under certain circumstances, the KMC can’t process my application before four-five weeks,” complained De. The number got reduced to less than half after the introduction of the Chatbot service, the official said, adding that the online service was not doing justice to the citizens in real-time need. We will try to ensure that the citizens are not harassed and if the documents that they provide are genuine, issuance of certificate should be hassle-free,” said a KMC official. The civic official said that cops on duty at the birth/death certificate wing should be more active in spotting middlemen who claim to have connections and can ‘get things done’ against payment of cash.
Sudip De, a resident of Hatibagan, is in desperate need to get a copy of a birth certificate of his son. First, he was not getting a Chatbot slot for application. After verification of documents, the KMC will send the same to Swasthya Bhawan which will (if satisfied) send a link to the applicant’s registered contact number. The applicant then will need to download the content (certificate). A KMC health department official conceded that, taking advantage of the rush for birth/death certificates, a middleman racket was active, and the racket has spread its tentacles in the birth/death certificate wing. “We have been receiving complaints from citizens about harassment being meted out to them by a section of the civic employees. Download the TOI App.