KMC puts an end to long queues for birth & death certificates

Kolkata: Contrary to the scene where people used to queue up since early morning for the collection of birth and death certificates, Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) has now taken several measures to put an end to it and simplified the process for citizens, relieving them of this hardship.

Recalling the former situation, the Municipal Commissioner, Binod Kumar said: “When I had initially joined in my position I used to see people lined up outside the civic body headquarters since early morning. They knew they couldn’t be late because in that case, they might have had to come back the next day.”

He said that he had taken up the issue with the mayor Firhad Hakim and other officials of the department concerned in a bid to bring about a solution. Eventually, the KMC was able to solve this through the introduction of a chatbot.

He shared that now people book their time slots through the chatbot and come accordingly to collect the certificates.

“The certificates are issued to these people up to 3 pm” it was informed. However, he highlighted there are many who are not so tech-savvy and may find it difficult to book a slot through the Whatsapp chatbot. “We are giving the certificates to such persons from 3 pm to 4 pm.”

Further, Kumar added that presently if a child is born in a government hospital then the parents do not need to run to KMC to obtain the birth certificates.

“In coordination with Swasthya Bhavan, now a system has been initiated whereby the parents will get the certificate from the government hospital only,” he said.

In the case of private hospitals, he said: “According to the existing rule if a child is born in private hospitals then the hospitals need to send the information to the KMC within 21 days of birth. A portal has now been developed where we get the information in a digital format from the hospital and the parents are sent an SMS on their phones. These steps have reduced the crowding outside the KMC headquarters,” he highlighted.

According to officials of the civic body’s health department, following the directive of the State Health Bureau of Intelligence (SHBI), KMC has already started using the Janma-Mrityu Tathya Portal (JMTP) of the government of West Bengal for issuance of birth and death certificates.

This newly introduced system is user-friendly and has helped in the issuance of digitally signed certificates of birth and death. Citizens are now getting digitally signed certificates of both birth and death with a QR code (quick response code) in a PDF format which they can easily print on plain sheets as and when required. The beneficiaries can even verify the certificates by scanning the QR code through the JMTP portal.

The KMC health department data stated that from May 5 to November 26, 2022, in all, 53,010 digital birth certificates and 39,706 digital death certificates were issued through the JMTP.