West Bengal Transfers Birth and Death Registration Powers from Local Bodies to Government Officers

MP, July 25, 2026, Kolkata: The West Bengal government on Friday notified the transfer of powers relating to birth and death registration from gram panchayat pradhans and municipal body chairpersons to district magistrates, government officers and heads of state-run health institutions.

The notification came a day after Chief Secretary Manoj Kumar Agarwal announced that elected representatives in rural and urban local bodies would no longer have the authority to issue birth and death certificates.

"Our government is continuously working to make public administration more transparent, accountable and accessible for every citizen of West Bengal. To further improve public service delivery, we have introduced key structural reforms in the registration of births and deaths across the state," Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari posted on X while sharing the amendment.

Under the amendment, the District Magistrate and Collector of each revenue district will function as the District Registrar of Births and Deaths, centralising coordination at the district level.

To strengthen institutional registration, Block Medical Officers of Health (BMOHs), superintendents of rural hospitals and heads of medical colleges will serve as Registrars for all institutional births and deaths in their respective facilities.

"Government officers will now be appointed as Registrars for every Gram Panchayat and Municipality to streamline record-keeping and administrative workflows," the Chief Minister said.

In the Kolkata Municipal Corporation area, the Municipal Commissioner will function as the District Registrar of Births and Deaths and appoint a government officer as the Registrar for the KMC area.

For years, birth and death certificates were issued by gram panchayat pradhans and by chairpersons, mayors or other elected heads of municipalities and corporations.

Officials have alleged that the system was misused in several places, with fake certificates issued in exchange for money or for political purposes.

Such documents were allegedly used for irregularities in voter registration and Aadhaar enrolment.

During the recent revision of electoral rolls, a large number of allegedly fake birth certificates were reportedly detected.

Meanwhile, West Bengal Police have launched search operations and conducted raids at multiple locations across the state till late Thursday night to seize and scrutinise old birth and death registers from corporations, municipalities and panchayats.