From 150, KMC raises daily chatbot quota for birth, death certs to 240
Times of India | 2 December 2025
Kolkata: Responding to the SIR panic among a section of citizens keen to get various documents, including birth and death certificates, in order in case they have to appear at a hearing to confirm their names on the electoral roll, Kolkata Municipal Corporation on Monday raised its daily quota of applications for the certificates through a chatbot (8335999111). Birth certificates are proof of citizenship.
Mayor Firhad Hakim had on Friday asked the KMC CMHO, Ranita Sengupta, to ensure that the civic body receives at least 500 birth and death certificate applications daily from next week and processes them as fast as possible. Currently, the KMC health department receives 150 applications through the chatbot daily. The KMC birth certificate wing on Monday raised its quota via the chatbot from 150 to 240 and agreed to receive applications manually after observing a long queue outside the birth certificate wing at the civic headquarters.
The KMC health dept has also decided to set up eight additional counters for receiving and processing birth and death applications. "These counters will be operational from Tuesday," said deputy mayor Atin Ghosh, who oversees the KMC health department.
Ghosh on Monday held an urgent meeting with senior civic officials to devise a plan to reach out to the applicants. "We have decided to open eight new counters at the headquarters that will ensure speedy issuance of birth and death certificates for applicants who stay in areas under boroughs I to VIII. Applications from boroughs IX to XVI will be received and processed by the employees at the existing counters," said Ghosh. According to a KMC health department official, the additional birth and death counters will be manned by trained employees who will be picked up from the boroughs.
A call that Hakim received during the weekly ‘Talk to Mayor' session on Friday from an Indian Mirror Street resident, who complained about not getting a chatbot application slot despite repeated attempts, prompted him to order an increase in the daily quota for birth and death applications. Hakim assured the KMC health department chief that his dept would help her by providing extra manpower to handle the additional rush. "We have been observing long queues at our birth certificate wing. We will help them overcome this situation," said Hakim.