As many as 104 birth certificates and nine death certificates issued by Chennai Corporation have come under the scanner, after two sanitary inspectors were suspended on Tuesday for making bogus entries.
The scam came to light following verification by passport authorities. The suspended officials had allegedly used the name of a private hospital in Porur to make entries in many of the birth certificates issued by them. Only two of the 104 birth certificates corroborate with the hospital’s records.
The bogus entries were allegedly made to change data, including dates and names, on the certificates. Nine death certificates have also been issued with bogus entries, said Corporation sources.
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For the past few years, many residents requesting changes in birth and death certificates have been subjected to hardship because of the merger of the local bodies and the lack of clarity among officials of various government departments.
“The problems pertaining to issuance of birth and death certificates became more challenging following the merger of 42 local bodies in the metropolitan area. Many residents in added zones such as Tiruvottiyur, Manali, Madhavaram, Ambattur, Valasaravakkam, Alandur, Perungudi and Sholinganallur have been struggling to get changes made in birth certificates because the data with the Corporation is incomplete,” said a Corporation official.
The problem was compounded as all the birth and death data maintained by the revenue departments of Kancheepuram and Tiruvallur districts had not been handed over, the official added.
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The Corporation is planning to study various aspects of the problem to ease the process of issuing birth and death certificates for residents in added areas.
The certificates issued in all the 15 zones are now under the scanner. The civic body will also streamline the entire process of issuing birth and death certificates for the city covering the district of Chennai and parts of Kancheepuram and Tiruvallur districts.