Kolkata Mayor Firhad Hakim announced a major civic relief measure today, allowing every Kolkata resident to directly claim their birth certificate from the Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) or apply seamlessly online. The move, he said, is designed to empower citizens across generations — from elderly residents rummaging through old almirahs to young professionals navigating passport procedures — ensuring no one is left stranded by missing documents in an era of stricter identity verification.
Hakim described the reform as part of KMC’s larger push for transparency and digitization, highlighting that the birth registry has been upgraded into a real-time, fraud-proof portal equipped with tracking features. The initiative, he noted, reflects the administration’s effort to transform routine documentation into a more citizen-friendly, corruption-free process.
However, beneath this stride toward efficiency lies an operational strain caused by the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of voter lists. The mayor acknowledged that the SIR exercise has drawn a significant portion of KMC’s workforce into Booth Level Officer (BLO) duties, impacting the pace of routine municipal services.
With thousands of civic employees diverted to door-to-door verification under the Election Commission’s voter roll audit, several departments are functioning with limited staff. Hakim said the remaining personnel are working through three-shift rotations, from dawn to dusk, to ensure essential services remain uninterrupted — a demanding stretch that underscores the balancing act between democratic duties and civic governance.
