Plan for digital signatures on birth,death certificates

Birth and death certificates issued by BMC could soon be signed by the health officers concerned through digital signatures if a proposal passed on to the administration is passed. The proposal,submitted by Samajwadi Party corporator Rais Shaikh,came up for review Monday at a general body meeting.

Shaikh said,“At times,citizens have to wait for hours for health officials,usually the medical health officer,to get a signature on applications. With digital signatures,the official can sign and validate a certificate from anywhere. This will reduce administrative delay.”

The digital signatures will be password-protected and health officers can approve applications online at a convenient time,making it possible to authorise applications faster.

BJP leader Dilip Patel objected to the proposal,saying that use of digital signatures could lead to “fraud and duplication”.

mumbai.newsline@expressindia.com