Maha govt directs authorities to cancel non-compliant birth, death certificates

The Maharashtra government has ordered an immediate review and cancellation of all wronglyissued delayed birth and death certificates across the state that do not meet the prescribed Standard Operating Procedure SOP reported news agency PTIThe Government Resolution GR issued on Monday also instructed officials to stop treating the Aadhaar card as sufficient proof for recording or altering birth detailsFourteen districts including Amravati Jalna Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar Latur Akola Parbhani Beed and Nashik have been flagged for a high number of irregularly delayed certificatesThe government has directed revenue health and municipal bodies to retrieve wronglyissued certificates and verify them again Certificates that do not meet legal criteria must be cancelled on priority and the entries must be removed from the Civil Registration System portal reported PTINotably BJP leader Kirit Somaiya had raised several complaints against illegal Bangladeshi nationals securing delayed birth certificates and settling in Maharashtra reported PTIThe GR has been issued at a time when the Special Intensive Revision SIR of electoral rolls is currently underway in nine states and three Union Territories UTsThe exercise is expected to start next February in MaharashtraThe GR issued by the Revenue and Forest Department stated that several delayed certificates were allegedly issued without supporting records such as hospital documents school admission forms or original birth entries reported PTIIt emphasised that the Aadhaar card cannot be accepted as proof for birthrelated informationFollowing the August 11 2023 amendment to the Registration of Births and Deaths Act only tehsildars subdivisional officers and district collectors are authorised to issue delayed certificatesThe GR states that certificates issued after the amendment without proper verification must be withdrawn and rechecked by competent authoritiesIf the Aadhaarlinked date of birth and the date declared in the application are different officials must immediately lodge complaints with the police Cases involving suspected forgery or manipulation will require filing an FIR according to the GR reported PTILocal officers in 14 districts flagged for a high number of irregular delayed certificates have been asked to carry out reconciliation drives and collect original certificates from applicantsThe GR also notes that some certificates were issued even though the tehsildars had not authorised delayed registration Municipal corporations and councils have been instructed to coordinate with tehsildars to verify such cases and take necessary actionIf a beneficiary does not surrender a cancelled certificate officials have been directed to seek help from the police In cases where applicants cannot be traced or are believed to have absconded a list must be prepared and legal action initiatedDistrict collectors have been asked to convene oneday review meetings with revenue officials local bodies and police to ensure coordinated implementation They must also submit progress reports to the state government in a prescribed format the government order said reported PTIWith inputs from PTI