Online registration of birth and deaths soon in Kolkata

GN Bureau | January 8, 2016



Changes are taking births in Kolkata Municipal Corporation. The KMC is set to introduce an online system of registration of births and deaths. The online process will completely eliminate touts and help citizens in its 144 wards with hassle-free registration of births and deaths.

KMC senior officials initiated the move in December last after the then West Bengal health secretary Malay De wrote to Municipal Commissioner Khalil Ahmed requesting to take proper steps for introduction of the online system from April 1.

Several attempts to crack down on the touts failed due to alleged nexus between them and a section of KMC health department officials. Talking more about the process, the official said the KMC health department had started its initiative a couple of years ago.

"It was always on the cards. The KMC health department had started linking the birth certificate counters in the borough offices with the central server at the headquarters a couple of years ago.

"Now, we need to a tie-up between city's hospitals and nursing homes so that these healthcare institutes stay connected with the KMC health department online and exchange data related to births and deaths whenever needed," the officer elaborated.

Asked whether the KMC was planning to scrap the age-old manual system of issuing birth and death certificates after introduction of the online registration process, the officer said, "We are not thinking of doing away with the manual system of registration right now. Because, we need to keep in mind the plight of those who do not have online access... We will keep the old system functional at the moment."

"A major chunk of city's population live in the slums and they do not have access to the internet... So we believe it will not be a bright idea to force them to apply for birth or death certificates online," the official said.

But to include residents of slums and make online registration of births and deaths a success, opening of cyber kiosks in all major slums across the city was also on the plans of the civic board, he added.

Comments

 

Other News

A 19th-century pilgrim’s progress

The Travels of a Sadhu in the Himalayas By Jaladhar Sen (Translated by Somdatta Mandal) Speaking Tiger Books, 259 pages, ₹499.00  

India faces critical shortage of skin donors amid rising burn cases

India reports nearly 70 lakh burn injury cases every year, resulting in approximately 1.4 lakh deaths annually. Experts estimate that up to 50% of these lives could be saved with adequate access to skin donations.   A significant concern is that around 70% of burn victims fall wi

Not just politics, let`s discuss policies too

Why public policy matters Most days, India`s loudest debates stop at the ballot box. We can name every major leader and recall every campaign slogan. Still, far fewer of us can explain why a widow`s pension is delayed or how a government school`s budget is actually approved. That

When algorithms decide and children die

The images have not left me, of dead and wounded children being carried in the arms of the medics and relatives to the ambulances and hospitals. On February 28, at the start of Operation Epic Fury, cruise missiles struck the Shajareh Tayyebeh school – officially named a girls’ school, in Minab,

The economics of representation: Why women in power matter

India’s democracy has grown in scale, but not quite in balance. Women today are active participants in elections, influencing outcomes in ways that were not as visible earlier. Yet their presence in legislative institutions continues to lag behind. The Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam was meant to addres

India will be powerful, not aggressive: Bhaiyyaji

India is poised to emerge as a global power but will remain rooted in its civilisational ethos of non-aggression and harmony, former RSS General Secretary Suresh `Bhaiyyaji` Joshi has said.   He was speaking at the launch of “Rashtrabhav,” a book by Ravindra Sathe


Archives

Current Issue

Opinion

Facebook Twitter Google Plus Linkedin Subscribe Newsletter

Twitter