Kolkata: Do you need a digital birth certificate as a document for passport renewal? Or are you in a hurry to get a digital certificate as proof to prove your citizenship and avoid harassment during an SIR hearing? Can't get a chatbot slot? Pay a premium and get your copy via a Tatkal slot. The premium may range from Rs 20,000 to Rs 30,000.
A section of KMC birth certificate wing workers, hand in glove with touts, is running a racket selling birth certificates at a premium. On Friday, a citizen known to be close to KMC chairperson Mala Roy was offered a Tatkal slot for Rs 30,000. The matter turned serious after the applicant called Roy and informed her about the offer. A KMC source said a birth certificate wing clerk was behind the malpractice policy.
When a senior KMC official posted at the civic headquarters sent a messenger to enquire about an abnormal delay in the issuance of a birth certificate that one of his relatives applied for two months ago, the messenger asked for Rs 10,000 for the certificate. Later, the officer took up the matter with a senior KMC health department official, following which, the matter was resolved.
Sources in the KMC health department conceded that a racket was back to extort citizens, taking advantage of the SIR camps and police verification of birth certificates for passport that necessitated speedy handover of documents.
A KMC health department official conceded that the civic headquarters was being flooded with complaints about harassment in the name of submitting documents. A retired teacher from Dhakuria complained about a KMC birth certificate wing clerk. The complainant, despite having submitted the photocopy of an existing birth certificate and hospital discharge certificate for her son, was asked to wait for a month or pay Rs 20,000 if she was in a hurry.
The KMC chairperson said the matter has become serious and needs an immediate solution. "It can't be tolerated that a section of the birth certificate wing will go on harassing citizens to earn easy money and the civic administration will sit silently. The matter assumes significance and needs intervention," Roy said.
On Monday, deputy mayor and in charge of the KMC health department Atin Ghosh made it clear that his department will not spare anyone found guilty of extorting money in the name of giving birth certificates, bypassing rules. "Citizens should choose the Chatbot and apply for birth certificates. If anyone is issuing birth certificates out of turn, it needs to be investigated and the persons associated with the racket should be taken to task immediately," Ghosh said.