CHENNAI: The city corporation’s ambitious project to make available all civic services online has gone down well with citizens across all age groups. But not with some prominent city schools, which reject application forms attached with online birth certificates.

School authorities insist that parents should produce the ‘original’ certificates as proof of age while taking application forms and attach attested photocopies of the original while they are being submitted.

“I tried to tell the teachers that an online application form is being accepted even in passport offices and embassies, but they refused to listen. My daughter was born on December 2, 2006, but since we took the printout today, the date of issue was on November 18, 2008. The school authorities said there can’t be two years difference between the birth and date of issue of the certificate,” said Vijay G, father of a two-year-old seeking admission to PSBB school, KK Nagar. “I waited in the queue for nearly an hour,” he added.

Sheela Rajendra, correspondent, PSBB group of schools, said, “When parents come to us with a birth certificate in a new form, we examine the details and note them down. In one case, it was found that the date of registration of birth was done two years ago and the date of issue of the certificate was done the day before yesterday. Naturally, we will ask the reason for this.”

It was also the first time that an online birth certificate had been submitted at the school, she added. “Also, the black and white printout looked like a xerox copy, unlike the original green form issued by the Corporation,” Sheela added.

Vijaya S, who went to submit application forms for admission to LKG in Chettinad Vidyasharam, Adyar, for her three-year-old grand daughter, was told that even online certificates would require signatures of gazetted officers. She was told that an online document had “no authenticity.” “When I tried to argue, I was told to meet the principal,” she said.

According to Chettinad Vidyashram principal S Amudhalakshmi, “We insist that xerox copies of birth certificates be authorised with the signature of a gazetted officer as it provides the name and age proof for a child. Even if a parent downloads the birth certificates from the Corporation, we will ask for authorisation from a gazetted officer.”

Meanwhile, civic authorities said they had sent letters to all schools advising them not to reject online certificates. It has now threatened to pull up schools for rejecting these documents.

Chennai Corporation commissioner Rajesh Lakhoni pointed out, “It is a verified document that can be substituted for the original. No one can reject it. We will pull up people who reject these.”

Every registration of birth certificate says: This certificate is computer generated and does not require any seal or signature in original. The authenticity of this certificate can be verified at www.chennaicorporation.gov.in. The registration number is unique to each birth.

According to school education minister Thangam Thennarasu, no questions could arise about the authenticity of a document endorsed by the Corporation. “The Corporation is the ultimate authority when it comes to documentation of birth and death. If the civic body has vouched for it, there is no reason why schools, public or private, should question it,” he said.