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.
