CHENNAI: Residents of city corporations and municipalities across the state will be registering birth of newborns and departed ‘beloveds’ in a single web module, which would provide birth and death certificates at free of cost. This is the first time the state is set to throw open an integrated web portal for multiple local bodies.
According to an official, the integrated web portal has been developed under the central government’s civil registration system (CRS). The Directorate of Public Health (DPH) has decided to roll out the new facility before the end of this month, as the training sessions for the birth and death registrars of various local bodies are completed, the official added.
“The common portal, gccapp.chennaicorporation.gov.in, has been developed based on the module that is being used by Chennai corporation to provide birth and death certificates to its residents. Though, few city corporations have their own web portals, all of them, including Chennai corporation portal will be integrated into the new website,” a birth and death registrar explained.
However, the new service would not be extended to rural local bodies like village panchayats, panchayat unions and district panchayats. “Technicality issues prevent extending the service to rural areas. But the service will be extended gradually to these parts,” the official added. On the other hand, the Chennai corporation sanitary inspectors complain that one-time passwords (OTP), mandated for logging-in to the web portal, could not be received at times. But the corporation officials attributed the issue to poor mobile phone coverage.
It is to be noted that the OTP system was brought into effect following an embezzlement involving properties worth Rs 100 crore at Anna Nagar. The property was grabbed by rigging death certificates of the original legal heirs. However, sanitary inspectors were accused of the connivance and the case is under police investigation.
