Over 800 birth certificates issued from single ID in UP village in 2 years

Authorities in Uttar Pradesh's Hathras have found out that a single user ID from a village was used to issue birth certificates for 814 individuals in multiple states in less than two years, prompting them to launch a probe.

Officials said Sinchawali Sani village has a population of roughly 1,100. However, over the last 19 months, a total of 814 birth certificates were issued using the village's user ID for the Civil Registration System (CRS).

"These certificates have been issued not only for residents of Uttar Pradesh but also for individuals in other states, including Jharkhand, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Haryana and Karnataka," an official said.

"So far, it has been found that 780 certificates were issued in Uttar Pradesh, 13 in Jharkhand, 12 in Bihar, four each in Madhya Pradesh and Haryana, and one was issued in Karnataka. The number of such cases may increase as the investigation progresses," the official said.

Gram panchayat officer Ishwar Chand, who is responsible for Sinchawali Sani, said he received access to the CRS portal on 5 August. "By then, 814 birth certificates were already issued through the ID. All of these certificates listed Sinchawali Sani as the place of birth," Chand, who reported the matter to senior officials, said.

District magistrate Ashish Kumar said a probe has been initiated. Chief medical officer of Hathras Dr Manjeet Singh, who has been tasked with leading the investigation, said efforts are on to determine how the ID was leaked.

"The ID was recently assigned to the panchayat secretary of Sinchawali Sani. The inquiry will focus on uncovering the source of the leak and the extent of the misuse," he added.