Kamal Ghorui
NASHIK: The Jalgaon health department cancelled nearly 3,000 delayed birth and death certificates after it found they were generated illegally, and reported the matter to the state govt.Dr Sachin Bhayekar, the district health officer, said the administration, at the beginning of Jan 2026, received information that illegal delayed birth and death certificates were generated and delivered from Bhatpuri village in Parola taluka. Subsequently, an investigation was launched.“Upon going through the details, the district administration found that since 2016, when the online process for registration began, a user ID was generated for Bhatpuri, a far-flung village, but it was never used. However, at least 4,907 delayed birth and death certificates were generated from the village,” the officer said. The matter came to light after the administration got an alert from the Yavatmal district administration about several certificates being generated from Bhatpuri.It was found the certificates were issued for the period 2010 to 2025, and they were all processed during Nov-Dec 2025. “The names in whose favour the certificates were generated included the likes of Sarita Devi and Gopal Das, and some Muslim-sounding names. However, Patil, Mahajan, Bhil, etc, are the common surnames of people who live around this area. The investigation also covered the neighbouring village of Ratale but, there too, people with such names/surnames were not found,” Bhayekar said.The district administration conducted a thorough investigation and found that there was no record of these names. The health department raised the issue with state govt and informed the state registrar. Following directives from the state registrar, the health department started cancelling the certificates. So far, close to 3,000 certificates have been cancelled. The entire process will be completed in a week’s time.Bhayekar said a special investigation team was set up at the district level. An FIR was also registered against unknown people.
