The clamour for birth certificates has grown louder and more urgent in the context of the fear surrounding the impending National Register of Citizens, and several citizens are doing rounds of various GHMC offices seeking issue of the certificates.
The anxiety is more pronounced in case of people whose parents returned after staying in foreign countries for some time, and whose birth certificates were issued by the Indian Embassies in the respective countries, officials say.
Usually, the rush for birth certificates is high around the time of school admissions as several schools demand certificates as the proof of age. What is being witnessed now is off-season rush, say officials.
On an average, about seven to 10 persons per day are visiting the GHMC headquarters, seeking birth certificates for themselves or their offspring.
“All of them are those who stayed abroad for a while, and then returning to settle in India. They are all anxious that their and their children’s names would be deleted from the citizenship register if birth certificates are not produced,” says an official.
A predominant majority of such persons approaching GHMC constitutes Gulf returnees, while a minority are from the USA too.
As per the procedure, birth certificate should be applied for within 60 days during the person’s first visit to India, by producing the document issued by the Indian Embassy in the corresponding country.
“If the application is given after 60 days or during subsequent visits, we can certify only the ‘non-availability of birth certificate’,” says the official.
A circle level official said, several persons who were born in the city are also being trapped by middlemen who promise to get the certificates done for payment.
“Many gullible people are being waylaid and robbed of money by brokers who prowl the circle offices, in the name of birth certificates. I have dealt with people who paid ₹5,000 to ₹10,000 to get the certificate,” he said.
GHMC does not straightaway issue birth certificates to people who have completed 14 years of age even if they are locals. All it can issue is non-availability certificate, which needs to be produced before the special executive magistrate in the rank of RDO in district collectorate, along with date of birth certificate, and identity proof.
The application will then be forwarded to the local tahsildar’s office, from where a Revenue Inspector will do the ground verification. After receiving the detailed report from the Tehsildar’s office, the magistrate or RDO will issue proceedings for late registration of birth. GHMC is authorised to issue birth certificate only after receiving such proceedings, officials informed.
