Decentralisation exercise of documents inconvenience public

The citizens of Mysuru and also people from other districts and states are inconvenienced as the Mysuru City Corporation (MCC) has taken up upgradation and decentralisation exercise of its Births and Deaths system, due to lack of proper information and guidance.

Seventy-three-year-old Jadayya (Jadeswamy) from Yadgir district is waiting for the death certificate of his 43-year-old son, seer Channabasayya, who died due to illness at Kamakshi Hospital of Kuvempu Nagar in Mysuru on December 17, 2020. The hospital has uploaded the details, but the MCC is yet to issue the death certificate. Seer Channabasayya, a successor to Hiremath in Surapura taluk, was residing in Mysuru since 1994. After his studies at Maharaja Sanskrit College, he was serving as a teacher in the same institution.

Seer Channabasayya’s younger brother Mahesh said that he received the ‘one time password’ (OTP) on his mobile phone on Thursday (January 28). “I forwarded it to my father, who has stayed back in Mysuru, to get the death certificate. We need the certificate to complete some formalities. But, even the OTP has not worked, as some technical problem still persists,” he said.

Srinivas, a resident of Mahadevapura in Mandya district said that he has been visiting the Zone-9 office of the MCC since the past one month.

“I am coming to the city to get the death certificate of one of my relatives, who died in a hospital in Mysuru, in the second week of December. The officials used to say that there is some technical problem and would ask us to come after a couple of days. Even they did not have clarity. Our time and effort all these days went in vain. Finally, we received an OTP on Thursday,” he said.

The MCC was not able to issue the certificates from December 7, 2019, as the upgradation and decentralisation exercise is underway, said Anil Christy, Statistical Officer, MCC.

“Earlier, MCC Health Officer, who acts as Chief Registrar for Birth and Death, alone could approve the certificates. Now, the process is to issue digital keys to health inspectors, with additional designation as registrars, of all nine zones of the MCC, so that they can approve the certificates of the hospitals, under their jurisdiction,” Christy said.

“On Thursday, January 28, digital keys were given to the health inspectors of Zones 2, 3, 8 and 9. There is some network error in the remaining zones. Their digital keys would be given in a couple of days. The hospitals, in the operator end, are uploading the data of both births and deaths. But, at the approval end, in the MCC, it is pending. The system may work in a week. Once the approval is given, the persons concerned will get OTP on their mobile phones and they can avail the certificates at their respective zonal office of the MCC,” he said.

Christy said, “For certificates availed within 21 days, the first copy is issued free of cost. Rs 5 is charged for each additional copy. Due to the delay, following the process, some applicants would not be able to avail the free copy.”

However, Zonal Commissioer K G Harish at Gayathripuram, said, “Even though the digital key is received, the problem may take a couple of days to ease. At present, the receipt number is not generated. The issue is reported to the higher officials.”

Regretting the inconvenience, Health Officer of MCC Dr D G Nagaraju said, “The problems are expected to be solved in a couple of days. There are plans to enable downloading and printing of birth and death certificates online. At present, one can only view the certificates online. The people have to physically come to the office to avail the printouts now.”