State Government Restricts Authority to Issue Birth and Death Certificates to Designated Officials

PTI, July 23, 2026, Kolkata :  Chief Secretary Manoj Kumar Agarwal on Thursday announced that elected representatives, including municipal chairpersons and gram panchayat heads, will no longer have the authority to issue birth and death certificates.

Agarwal said that henceforth only designated government officials would be authorised to issue birth and death certificates, removing the power from all elected public representatives.

The announcement came even as police on Thursday launched coordinated inspections across several districts to investigate allegations of corruption and distribution of forged birth and death certificates.

The Chief Secretary said the government detected widespread discrepancies in the issuance of such certificates, with many alleged irregularities surfacing during the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.

"We have received numerous complaints, including from the police. Fake birth certificates have been detected in several places, and many people have taken undue advantage. Although rules were in place, there have been widespread irregularities," Agarwal said.

The state government has also decided to re-verify all birth and death certificates registered since 1997.

Officials will conduct door-to-door verification, and any certificate found to be fake will be cancelled.

"There is no reason for anyone to panic. This verification is only a procedural exercise aimed at making the system free of corruption. It will be carried out only by government officials. No contractual employee will be involved in the verification process," Agarwal said.

The Chief Secretary also warned that strict action would be taken against any government official found guilty of irregularities in issuing such certificates in future.