It is 10 am Wednesday but outside the gate number 6 of the historical Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) building, which leads to the birth and death registration wing, two long, serpentine queues of people have already formed – one each for enquiry and appointments – amid an atmosphere marked with anxiety and urgency.
“We have submitted the enumeration forms but now if the EC calls us for a hearing to check documents, we may land in trouble. I have lived in Kolkata all my life. I have other documents but not a birth certificate,” she says with a worried look.
For Asha Devi from Phoolbagan, who is seeking her father’s death certificate, it is her second trip to the KMC. “My father was a fruit vendor in the city but never enrolled as a voter. He died in Kolkata. We are originally from Uttar Pradesh but I was born and brought up here. I want to get my documents in order as I fear that authorities will refuse to enrol me as a voter in Bengal,” she says.
The SIR has emerged as the latest flashpoint between the Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress (TMC) government and the EC as well as the BJP-ruled Centre.
Mamata has alleged that the exercise would lead to “mass disenfranchisement”. She has also taken on the poll panel over alleged suicides of Booth Level Officers (BLOs) due to work overload under a tight deadline.
The principal Opposition BJP claims that the SIR would lead to the “elimination of ghuspaithiyas (infiltrators)” from voter lists in Bengal. The Leader of the Opposition (LoP) in the state Assembly, Suvendu Adhikari, is also aggressively pushing the infiltrator narrative.
Last Sunday, the EC extended the deadline for electors to submit enumeration forms in the current SIR in nine states and three Union Territories from December 4 to December 11.
Several people in the queues at the KMC building in central Kolkata belong to the Muslim community. Among them is hijab-clad Farhat Begum, holding her papers in a file and waiting with her husband and son to collect her birth certificate besides the death certificate of her father, who passed away over three decades ago.
“Someone told me that the KMC is setting up special counters and I came here to enquire about them. I do not have a birth certificate because I was born at home but have other documents like voter card, Aadhaar card, PAN card. I am an Indian Muslim by origin but what if they (EC) ask me to produce my father’s death certificate?” Farhat asks.
Like Farhat, Nigar Begum, too, does not have a birth certificate. “My parents were very poor and illiterate and had no documents. For the past 39 years, I have been staying with my husband and have only the ‘nikahnama’ (marriage certificate). My siblings too are anxious. My father died in Chittaranjan Hospital and his death certificate would be of great help now,” she says.
Waiting for his turn to get his wife’s birth certificate is Chinese-origin 75-year-old Michel Leu, a resident of China Town area in Kolkata’s Tangra, who is a leather factory worker. “Our forefathers came to Kolkata and I was born here. I have all the documents. My wife, who has been staying with me for the past 40 years, has a birth certificate. However, we are doubtful if it will be accepted as it is a handwritten one,” he says, adding authorities have asked them to come only after booking an online appointment on WhatsApp.
Some people say the online appointment booking system has become a “problem” for them. Sona Karamani and senior citizens like Sayera Bibi list their woes while trying to navigate the digital platforms.
“The KMC gave us a number where we could book appointments but my son’s repeated attempts to book one over the past three days have failed. My husband’s birth certificate is handwritten and I have come here to get a digital copy of the same,” Bibi says.
She was referring to the KMC’s chatbot service on WhatsApp number, a poster of which has found a prominent display outside gate number 6. Elaborating how the system works, a KMC official says, “Once a person sends a message, a default message is sent out with options of services like appointments. The person is then asked to share his phone number and upload necessary documents, follow the prompts and provide the requested information. Once the appointment is booked, the person must visit the KMC with his/her issues and documents.”
Rana Pratap, a resident of Behala, also says he has faced trouble with the online system. “I managed to get an appointment for my relative after trying for 15 days. We came here and officials asked us to submit an application after looking at our documents,” he says.
On its part, the KMC has decided to increase its daily limit of issuing certificates from 150 to 500 in view of growing demand for them. “Besides, the birth and death registration wing is also accepting applications manually. The number of counters for these applications have also been increased to eight from the existing two and they have been operationalised from Tuesday involving trained staff,” the civic body official says.
Kolkata Mayor and TMC leader Firhad Hakim has also asked Chief Municipal Health Officer Ranita Sengupta to increase the processing of applications to 500 per day from next week.