The Hindu 13.02.2014
Civic body to home deliver birth certificates free of charge
Couples who live in East Delhi and are expecting babies
after April 1 will have one less thing to worry about. Birth
certificates for babies born at district hospitals will be sent to the
parents by the civic body through speed-post or courier, that too free
of charge.
The announcement was made by East Delhi
Municipal Corporation (EDMC) Commissioner S. Kumaraswamy on Wednesday
during the finalisation of the EDMC Budget for the next financial year.
Currently, getting birth certificates involves standing in long lines at
the municipal corporation’s office. The home delivery of birth
certificates is expected to make the procedure much easier for new
parents.
“Lots of people have to face problems — long
queues and the chance of corruption. This move will make the system
transparent,” said EDMC spokesperson Y.S. Mann.
The
civic body plans to implement this scheme beginning the next financial
year with a Budget allocation of Rs.60 lakh for the project. It will
cover births in both government-run and private hospitals within the
EDMC’s jurisdiction.
“We will collect data from
hospitals on all institutional births like the parents’ names and
address,” he said, adding that the hospitals will have to upload the
details of all births onto the civic body’s central server. The civic
body will also start dedicated windows at both the EDMC zones — Shahdara
East and West — to add names to birth certificates within half-an-hour.
According
to the Budget, the EDMC generated Rs.1,295.64 crore in income in
2012-2013. The proposed income for the next fiscal has been increased to
Rs.2,067.97 crore. The corporation’s proposed expenditure for 2014-15
has been increased to Rs.2,232.80 crore from Rs.1,042.31 crore in
2012-2013.
