KMC Commissioner: Rules to obtain death certificate should be simplified

Kolkata: Commissioner of Kolkata Municipal Corporation, Binod Kumar wrote to Swasthya Bhawan talking about the difficulty faced by bereaved families in obtaining copies of death certificates. He also asked the authorities to simplify the process to obtain these documents. According to reports, the officials of Swasthya Bhawan responded, promising to help out.

Earlier, when some residents proceeded to request additional copies of death certificates or special death registration, they were refused away by the Swasthya Bhawan and hence faced complications, according to a report published by the Times of India.

Due to the new online system introduced on May 5, which has all the data centralized, the KMC health department has been asking for several documents from the family of the deceased, like Aadhar card, voter ID, and passport among others. Being unable to provide all these documents, many families were refused to get additional copies of death certificates.

"Several citizens who were refused such certificates complained of an unnecessary rule that mandated the production of documents, which are hard to find. While we acknowledge their problems, we are helpless and can't change the system," said a KMC health department senior official.

An official of KMC health department admitted that they had to turn down requests for further copies of death certificates that had been issued more than three decades ago. Binod Kumar wrote to Swasthya Bhawan after such incidents, requesting to simplify the process, which will help people who have been denied additional death certificate copies. "We have got in touch with the senior Swasthya Bhawan officials, who have assured us of looking into the matter," said a civic official.

Since the new online system has come into place, people are neither getting a certificate from the KMC nor the name of the place of death. "We need to find a solution to this problem," said a KMC health official.