Team Herald
MARGAO: Hundreds of people coming to the Directorate of Planning and Statistics office to get birth and death certificates of their relatives were sent back on Friday after the office abruptly shifted 90% of the staff from the current office.
The birth and death records section in the sub-registrar office in the Matanhy Saldanha complex has been a long-time headache for the staff of the sub-registrar office and have been demanding shifting of the same to a separate facility.
On Friday, several people who had come get these records were sent back. The remaining staff had a trying time to convince the people. The staffers present there said, “The births and Deaths records have not issued any receipts today due to lack of staff to process the same. How can a single staffer handle 200 people?” he asked.
“I had come from Chandor to get a copy of the birth registration record of my mother, and this is my third visit to this office since the last week. We are in trouble and the issue needs to be solved soon,” said Natalina Rodrigues, an applicant.
People from as far as Old Goa and Canacona have been making rounds for weeks together without any result.
“After spending one-and-a-half hour standing in the queue last week, I was told that I needed to furnish some more details. Came back today and was sent back,” said Benny Marques, another applicant.
The deputy chief minister visited the section and had discussed the ways for solving the problems of the birth and deaths section. Extra staff and digitisation of the records is now pending for two years.
The office receives almost 200 applications of births and deaths records everyday and the issuance of the certificates sometimes is delayed beyond a month.
Shifting the section elsewhere from the civil registrar’s office for better handling of the works was also on the charts.
However, the Planning and Statistics has been committing a lot but no action has been initiated in the smooth functioning of the section.
