Goemkarponn desk
CURCHOREM: Many people who are in need of marriage certificates and are not traceable in the marriage registrar’s office are facing severe hardships and agony.
It is learnt that many people who need copies of these vital documents face severe problems as some records pages are in tatters or vanished from the register books in the Civil Registrar-cum sub-registrar office at Quepem.
“Earlier, due to the rough handling of these books by the applicants while searching their records, some records were mutilated or disappeared from the books. That’s why we stopped that system now, and we search for ourselves.” said a staffer.
Narrating the ordeal of three sisters who lost both their parents, the panch member of Xeldem panchayat Babloo Fernandes said that the sisters were running from pillar to post to get the marriage certificate of their parents. “The pages in the books at the registrar’s office, Quepem, are missing, and the authorities told them to get a copy of the certificate or any evidence of the certificate to reconstruct the same. As they do not have any evidence, they went to church and found a copy of the civil registration, which was issued to the couple by the registrar to produce in the church at the time of the nuptials, but the authorities are not admitting it, stating that the marriage records might not be reached back to registration office after their religious marriage in the church,” informed Fernandes.
When contacted, the Sub-Registrar at Quepem Pramod Velip said that as per law, they cannot re-register or reconstruct the marriage certificate if the evidence of the registration certificate is not available in their office or with the couples. ‘Law does not permit us to reconstruct or re-register marriage certificates if the evidence of registration is not available with them or with us.” said Velip when asked if it cannot be done based on a church certificate in the case of Christian couples.
When this issue, including the missing pages of marriage and birth certificates in the books at the registrar’s office at Quepem, was brought to the notice of Law Minister Nilesh Cabral said that let the couple bring the copy of the acknowledgement received by the church after submitting their marriage records in the registrar office, and he will help them to reconstruct it.
“Meanwhile, I will study the issue of other certificates missing due to the non-availability of pages in the books and try to find a suitable solution,” assured Cabral.
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