Mangaluru: Mangaluru City South MLA D Vedavyas Kamath on Wednesday accused the Congress-led state govt of creating administrative chaos by disrupting birth and death registration services.Kamath told reporters that the Mangaluru City Corporation (MCC) had put up a notice stating that applications for birth and death registrations would not be accepted for a month, as its staff and officials had been deputed for the specia intensive revision (SIR) of electoral rolls. He questioned whether the state govt believed there would be no births or deaths in Mangaluru for a month. “Parents require birth certificates for school admissions, while many citizens need these documents for passports and other essential services. What are they expected to do?” he asked.Kamath said following public outrage and complaints, the corporation resumed accepting applications from Tuesday. However, it has imposed a condition that certificates will not be processed on an urgent basis. “If that is the case, the MCC should also put up a board saying it will not collect any taxes from citizens for a month,” he remarked.He alleged that the administration at the civic body was causing unnecessary hardship to the public, forcing people to queue up outside the corporation office every day for basic services. The prevailing situation, he said, has also led to frequent arguments between citizens and MCC staff. He urged the corporation to streamline its functioning and ensure uninterrupted public services.Kamath also highlighted what he described as growing confusion over land conversion approvals within the MCC. He said that the state govt had shifted the responsibility for approving land conversion applications from the revenue department to the Mangaluru Urban Development Authority (Muda). Earlier, surveyors under the revenue department would inspect sites, verify records, conduct surveys and prepare maps required for obtaining conversion orders from the tahsildar’s office. “Now, while the responsibility for land conversion has been transferred to Muda, the surveyors and records continue to remain with the revenue department. No alternative mechanism has been created,” he alleged.According to Kamath, Muda officials insist that conversion cannot be processed without survey maps, while revenue department officials claim they are no longer authorised to prepare them under the new govt order. As a result, landowners are unable to obtain conversion approvals, preventing them from selling their sites or completing property transactions. He also pointed out that Muda itself is suffering from staff shortage, resulting in delays in other civic approvals.Kamath alleged that the govt’s “ill-conceived decisions” had created confusion over property cards, RTCs, land conversion and other land-related services, forcing citizens to make repeated visits to government offices.
