E-Paper
Applications for birth documents on the rise since CAA announcement
Citizens fearing the repercussions of Citizenship Amendment Act and NRC have started looking for their documents as well as their ancestors’ to prove their citizenship.
In the wake of the amendment to the citizenship act and the controversy over a possible country-wide National Register of Citizens (NRC), municipal wards in Bandra, Santacruz, Kurla, Sakinaka, parts of Khar, among others have witnessed a rise in the number of applications for procuring birth certificates.
The H-West ward, covering Bandra, Khar and Santacruz, has been receiving around 30 to 40 applications for birth certificates daily since January 1, against the monthly average of 150 to 180 applications.
In areas like Kurla and Sakinaka, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) received more than 250 applications in October, 338 applications in November and 398 applications in December, against the monthly average of 250. In areas like Byculla and Nagpada, the municipal wards received around 200 applications in December, against the monthly average of 125 to 150.
A senior BMC official said there has been a 20-30% rise in birth certificate applications in several areas of Mumbai since December.
Citizens fearing the repercussions of Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) and NRC have started looking for their documents as well as their ancestors’ to prove their citizenship.
Bandra resident Faiyaz Chougle, 58, said his family has been concerned about their documents ever since the news of the CAA and NRC came out. He said he had recently applied to BMC to get birth certificates of his family members. “What about documents of children born at home and not hospitals since there were not many hospitals back then? Some of my relatives have left everything aside to gather documents,” he said.
A senior health official said, “The panic among citizens applying for old birth certificates is evident. We have not seen any long queues as of now, but there has been a rush at our citizen facilitation centres for such applications, especially since January.”
Senior BMC officials from the health department said there was panic among applicants. A senior health official said, “The panic among citizens applying for old birth certificates is quite evident. Although, we have not seen any long queues as of now, but there has been a rush at our citizen facilitation centres for such applications in the past month, especially since January 1 this year.”
