From next month, couples may not be able to get their marriage legally registered unless the BMC takes up the job assigned to it. Six months after a state government order designated medical officers in 24 civic wards as marriage registrars, the BMC has not taken up the task. The office of the Deputy Inspector General (DIG), Registrations and Stamps, registering marriages so far, has decided to stop from March 1.
Dilip Salunke, DIG, Registration and Stamps, said the decision was prompted by fear of being dragged to court for overstepping its jurisdiction in view of a Supreme Court order.
The SC order had stated that marriage registration should be mandatory and the job should be transferred from the state government to the ward officers in 22 municipal corporations and 222 municipal councils.
While all other local bodies in the state swiftly implemented the order, the BMC had written to the government that its 24 ward officers were already burdened with other work.
The government issued a notification in August 2009 stating that medical officers of the 24 civic wards will register marriages, in addition to issuing birth and death certificates. But marriage registration continued to be handled by the Registrations and Stamps office.
“We wrote several times to the BMC health department and told them we will help train their staff. Soon, we will write to the commissioner himself. We will stop registering marriages next month onwards,” said Salunke, who says the BMC has not replied to his letters. BMC executive health officer GT Ambe was not available for comment.
The two offices at Old Customs House in Fort and at MHADA building in Bandra East together used to handle over 30,000 marriage registrations a year, collecting over Rs 50 lakh in fees. “Delegating the job to medical officers will not only ease our workload but also be more convenient for people as they won’t have to travel to the two offices and queue up for hours,” said an officer at the DIG, Registration and Stamps office.
Source : http://www.indianexpress.com/news/after-march-no-office-to-register-marriages/582966/2