The Times of India             26.06.2013

Civic body grappling with online payment

CHANDIGARH: Registration of birth and death will go online in two months but with the Municipal Corporation yet to work out a system of online payment, the goal of providing a convenient way of getting birth and death certificates issued is likely to be defeated.

'The database for online registration will soon be uploaded on the MC server, from where residents can access the certificates. We are preparing the database at the moment and it will become functional by August,' says Mahesh Gandhi, a computer programmer working on the project. He, however, added, 'The idea of online payment was finalized a month back but the procedure of paying online is still a grey area and nothing has been finalised till now.'
Cities like Cuttack, Bangalore and Coimbatore have introduced online system of submitting and making payments for certificates in early 2010.

According to the present system, family members of the deceased or the newborn have to approach the zonal office of the MC and fill an application with name, date and other personal details. These forms have to be submitted at the respective ward offices along with a fee of Rs 5 to procure a copy of the certificate. Once the online facility is introduced, residents will be able to download the birth and death certificates from the MC web portal after the completion of the initial registration procedure.

In online registration, the civic body will upload web links which could be accessed and searched based on name, address or date of birth or death maintained in the register. The copy of the birth and death certificate could be accessed and downloaded from the website. People can submit documents and make payment for the certificates online. In online payment gateway, one need not wait for the city health officer's signature. His digitized signature can be put immediately after creation of the certificate.

'If at all we manage to apply online, we will have to visit the city health office to submit documents which does not make sense in online service.' says Vikas Roy, a resident of Chandigarh. The purpose of online registration is again not solved here because the documents are to be submitted in the office after one gets the print-out of the certificate. 'The city health office can accept the scanned copy of the certificate so that one does not have to visit the office for the document submission; this can be a better idea for a completely managed online registration process,' says Manisha Garg, a resident of Sector 48.