Amritsar MC faces massive backlog in birth and death certificates
The Amritsar Municipal Corporation's Birth and Death Registration wing is grappling with a backlog of over 25,000 applications, while the Civil Surgeon's office has an additional 9,200 pending cases, according to officials. The sharp increase in pendency follows a surge in online applications after schools made digital birth certificates mandatory for admissions and other official purposes.
Daily application volume overwhelms processing capacity
The Municipal Corporation is now receiving between 1,000 and 1,200 applications daily, a figure that previously represented an entire week's workload. However, the department can process only about 450 applications per day, leading to a steady accumulation of pending cases. Similarly, the Civil Surgeon's office, which handles applications from rural areas as well as correction and delayed registration cases from both urban and rural regions, receives around 700 applications daily but disposes of only about 125 per day.
Staff reshuffling adds to delays
Sources attributed the increased pendency at the Municipal Corporation to recent staff reshuffling in the Birth and Death Registration wing. Experienced supervisors, who had been managing the process for several years, were transferred to the Health Department, while newly posted employees are still familiarizing themselves with the registration process. The Municipal Corporation currently has eight employees handling birth and death certificate registrations and benefits from multiple approval levels for processing applications. In contrast, the Civil Surgeon's office lacks similar operational flexibility, further slowing case disposal.
Officials under pressure as fresh applications keep coming
Officials in both offices are under pressure to clear the mounting backlog, even as fresh applications continue to pour in daily. Mayor Jatinder Singh Bhatia acknowledged the increase in pendency, stating that the sudden spike in online applications had placed an unexpected burden on the system. He said the workload was being reviewed and additional staff would be deployed to address the issue.
