Kolkata Municipal Corporation Expands Certificate Services Amid Electoral Roll Revision

Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) is set to enhance its birth and death certificate issuance services starting next week, coinciding with the final phase of West Bengal's Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls. This initiative aims to assist residents who need these vital documents during upcoming draft voters' list hearings.

Mayor Firhad Hakim has instructed the KMC's chief municipal health officer to significantly increase the daily processing capacity for certificate applications through the civic body's chatbot. The current limit of 150 applications will be raised to at least 500, with plans to eventually accommodate 1,000 daily applications to meet the anticipated demand surge before SIR hearings commence.

To further address the expected increase in applications, KMC will establish two additional offline counters at its headquarters beginning Monday. These counters will process manual certificate requests, complementing the existing online system.

In his statement to the press, Hakim explained that this decision was prompted by numerous complaints from long-term residents who discovered their names were inexplicably missing from voter lists.

"We've observed instances where individuals residing here since 2002 find themselves absent from the voter list for unknown reasons. Many are requesting SIR intervention in their cases. We will facilitate birth or death certificate issuance during the SIR hearings. Beyond our online platforms, we're also implementing manual certificate distribution," the Mayor elaborated.

The BJP opposition has voiced strong criticism of this initiative, alleging that TMC-administered civic bodies are manipulating the process to affect electoral rolls.

BJP leader Dilip Ghosh claimed, "We've received information indicating that TMC and its government, operating through corporations and various municipalities, are issuing thousands of fraudulent, backdated birth certificates predating 2002. Individuals presenting birth certificates with earlier dates shouldn't automatically qualify as voters without verification of additional family documentation. Otherwise, thousands with backdated certificates could improperly gain voting rights. TMC is orchestrating this systematically."

KMC has not issued any response to these allegations.