Kolkata: Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) on Tuesday appointed 16 borough-level officials as registrars and gave them the authority to issue birth and death certificates. The move came days after sub-registrars posted at crematoriums were stopped from issuing death certificates.The decision was taken on the same day TOI reported that death certificates were not issued since Saturday. The suspension left hundreds of bereaved families without an important govt document and with no clear information on when or how they would receive it.The order removes the administrative block that halted the issuing of death certificates. However, KMC health department officials said some technical work still needs to be completed. This includes assigning digital signatures and giving the new registrars upload rights so that families can receive links to download death certificates.The 16 officials include 13 executive health officers, one deputy chief municipal health officer and two medical officers-in charge. They have been authorised to register births and deaths within their areas, maintain official records in both physical and digital form through the Janma-Mrityu Thathya civil registration portal, review applications for registration, delayed registration, corrections and cancellations, and issue certified copies of birth and death records.A civic official said the newly appointed registrars will be able to issue birth and death certificates once they receive secure login details for the civil registration portal. After that, KMC will start issuing both current death certificates and those pending since Saturday.At present, families are getting only a money receipt — a document with no legal value for inheritance, insurance, pension, banking, property transfer or other statutory claims — after submitting medical death certificates issued by attending doctors and surrendering Aadhaar cards of the deceased. No cremation certificates are being issued either, compounding the problems faced by families from outside Kolkata. Those who cremate a relative in the KMC area but live outside need a cremation certificate before applying for a death certificate from their local civic body. With KMC withholding the document, such families have been left in limbo.The crisis began on Saturday, July 25, when families arriving with bodies at crematoriums in the city were told that no cremation or death certificate would be issued after the cremation. A KMC health department source said a verbal order from the civic headquarters reached crematoriums on Saturday, directing sub-registrars not to issue the certificates until further notice.According to the KMC officials posted at the crematoriums, the sudden suspension of services has left the families of the deceased in the lurch.Anwesha Datta, a resident of south Kolkata, said: “My mother-in-law passed away on Sunday, and we performed the last rites at the Keoratala crematorium. We were informed that the death certificate would be sent via SMS and that we should contact the authorities if we did not receive it within seven days. However, we have not received it yet. During my father-in-law’s demise, we received the certificate on the same day. We are unsure when we will receive it this time.”
