Maharashtra orders mass cancellation of irregular birth, death certificates; Aadhaar not valid poof

Mumbai: The Maharashtra government has issued an immediate directive to review and cancel all birth and death certificates issued with delays that fail to meet the prescribed Standard Operating Procedure (SOP). Moreover, Aadhaar cards will no longer be accepted as adequate proof for documenting or altering birth details.

The government flagged 14 districts, including Amravati, Jalna, Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, Latur, Akola, Parbhani, Beed, and Nashik, for a high incidence of irregularly delayed certificates. It has ordered the revenue, health, and municipal bodies to retrieve all faulty certificates, verify them, cancel those that do not meet legal requirements, and remove these entries from the Civil Registration System portal.

Complaints had been raised, notably by BJP leader Kirit Somaiya, about illegal Bangladeshi nationals acquiring delayed birth certificates and settling in Maharashtra.

This government resolution (GR) comes amid the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in nine states and three Union Territories, with Maharashtra's revision scheduled for February.

The GR emphasises that delayed certificates must be backed by records such as hospital documents, school admission forms, or original entries, and that only designated authorities, including tehsildars, sub-divisional officers, and district collectors, are authorised to issue such certificates following the August 11, 2023, amendment to the Registration of Births and Deaths Act.

Certificates issued without proper verification or authorisation must be immediately cancelled and reviewed. Any discrepancies between the Aadhaar-linked date of birth and the application require prompt police complaints, and suspected forgery cases must provoke FIRs.

Local officials in the flagged districts have been tasked with conducting reconciliation drives, collecting original certificates from applicants, and coordinating between municipalities and tehsildars to verify and act on irregularities.

Applicants who fail to surrender cancelled certificates or cannot be located will be declared absconders with FIRs registered against them. District collectors are directed to convene review meetings with relevant officials and to submit periodic progress reports to the state government.

With inputs from PTI