Hyderabad: Applicants ransacked the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) office in Charminar for delay in issuing death and birth certificates. The corporation staff is taking more than six months to update records and certify death and birth, where the stipulated time is less than a month.
In case of death certificate, GHMC blames the police department for not updating the incident details (accident cases) and for hospital deaths, the corporation has a tie up with only 200-odd hospitals, while for the rest, the certificate needs to be sought manually and submitted to the GHMC office. While citizens are made to run from pillar to post, officials are suggesting they come through brokers to get the job done fast.
Mohd Iqbal of Chanchalguda said, “My father expired in June this year. The same month I had applied for the death certificate. Every month I am made to make the rounds of the GHMC circle office. Brokers are demanding Rs 500 to Rs 1,000 per applicant and the work is done in 8 to 10 days. But why should we pay middlemen when GHMC promises to provide this facility within a month?” Every day women with their kids and elderly citizens stand in a line to check if they can get the certificate. An average of 250 applicants approach per circle at Sardar Mahal to submit applications.
Ms Naseem Begum said, “I had approached the e-Seva officials as directed by the GHMC authorities who claimed they have no records of my baby’s birth. I provided the required information to the e-Seva officials and applied for the certificate in Aug. 1 have not got it yet. I keep going there again and again and on Mondays GHMC officials are not available stating they are on election duty.”
It is worst in case of accidental deaths. The procedure is the local police, where the incident took place must give a letter accompanied by the post mortem report to GHMC. In most of such cases, the applicant needs to shell out money at the police station plus GHMC office.
While with birth certificates, the corporation is tied up with 200-odd hospitals where the birth details are sent online however with other hospitals, the applicant needs to seek the certificate from the hospital and submit it to the GHMC.
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