MARGAO
Issuance of birth and death certificates at the Salcete Sub-Registrar Office at Margao lay disrupted since the beginning of this current month for want of staff to man the birth and death section.
Reason: The contract of the eight staffers drafted by the Department of Planning and Statistics at the Salcete Sub-Registrar Office has expired on October 31 and there’s still no replacement made for these employees.
Resultantly, the work of issuance of birth and death certificates has been adversely affected. While the Sub-Registrar Arjun Shetty tried to work out a temporary solution by drafting his Sub-Registrar staff to tide over the situation, officials of the Planning and Statistics have confirmed that the contract of the eight employees have expired and efforts are underway to renew the contracts at the earliest.
In fact, Thursday saw beleaguered citizens anxiously waiting for someone in the births and deaths section to accept applications and issue receipts at the country. Given the peculiar situation, Salcete Sub-Registrar Arjun Shetty intervened and drafted his staffers to accept the applications and issue receipts for the citizens.
The Sub-Registrar said he tried to put a temporary system in place so that citizens do not return home disappointed. He, however, said he may be handicapped to provide the temporary solution in the coming days with a number of his staff roped in for BLO duties and staffers proceeding on leave.
“We are trying to tide over the situation at the births and deaths section, a division of the department of Planning and statistics. Today, I have deputed two of my UDCs to do the work of the births and deaths section just to ensure that applications of citizens were accepted by the office and receipts issued”, he said.
He added: “From Friday, I may be handicapped to spare my staff for the births and deaths section work since some of them have been called for the BLO works in view of the revision of electoral roll”.
While the applications of citizens were accepted at the office, the applicants may have to wait for a long time to receive their documents given there’s no staff around to search for the records and issue the certificates.
A senior official of the Department of Planning and Statistics, however, said that the process of extending the contract of the eight employees posted at the Salcete Sub-Registar Office is presently underway. “The contract of the employees in question is almost complete and a nod from the seniors will be enough to renew the contract”, the official said.
He added that the situations should return to normal early next week by Tuesday as the process of the renewal of contracts of the staffers should hopefully be complete by Monday.
Sources in the know said the Salcete Sub-Registrar has already conveyed the situation at the births and deaths section in the office over the last three days to the head office, with a plea to rectify the matter in the interest of the public.
