Kolkata: The Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) has received more than 18,600 applications for domicile certificates in the past one-and-a-half months, an unprecedented spike linked to the Election Commission’s ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, officials said on Monday.
Cumulative figures available till February 6 show that 18,605 applications were submitted, far exceeding the usual monthly average of fewer than 200 requests, sources in the civic body said.
Officials and Trinamool Congress councillors said the demand for resident certificates has “shot up sharply” since the revision process began, as the document has emerged as a key proof of residence for voters whose names were either flagged or left out during the verification exercise.
The civic body opened dedicated counters at its headquarters and across borough offices following instructions from Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee to ensure that residents do not face difficulties in securing required documentation during the revision process.
A member of KMC’s mayor-in-council said the large volume of applications over such a short period has taken officials by surprise, describing the trend as “unprecedented” compared to routine demand patterns.
Applications received by KMC are forwarded to the Kolkata sector collector’s office, where documents are verified through police checks before a WBCS-rank officer grants final approval for issuance of the certificates.
Officials added that, at present, applications are being accepted primarily for requirements linked to the SIR process.
The surge comes against the backdrop of heightened political activity around the electoral roll revision. Earlier, addressing a meeting of TMC booth-level agents (BLA), Banerjee had accused the Centre and the Election Commission of bias in the SIR exercise and directed party workers to actively assist voters facing scrutiny.
Civic officials said the push to expedite certificate issuance gathered momentum after Mayor Firhad Hakim announced that the process would be streamlined and accelerated to help residents produce domicile proof during hearings conducted by election authorities.
Previously, education-related domicile certificates were issued from Kolkata’s Town Hall, while councillors provided address-related residency attestations.
However, there have been allegations that the CEO’s office is not accepting certificates issued by councillors for the ongoing revision, prompting the KMC to formalise a centralised application and verification mechanism.
Under the new arrangement, applicants must submit requests at their respective borough offices, which are then routed to the KMC headquarters for scrutiny before the final certificate is issued from the borough level.
The move is also aimed at assisting voters whose names did not appear in the initial mapping phase of the SIR exercise. According to official figures cited by ruling party leaders, over 31.68 lakh voters across the state were not covered in the first phase, while nearly six lakh names were excluded from draft rolls across 11 Kolkata Assembly segments alone.
Civic authorities said detailed guidelines have been circulated to councillors to guide residents on documentation requirements, including Aadhaar cards and rent receipts where applicable.
Municipal officials, however, expect the demand for domicile certificates to remain elevated as the SIR exercise progresses and more voters appear before election authorities to establish residency credentials.
