NEWS / Indian State government amends vital records registration laws to curb fraud

The government of the Indian State of Maharashtra has amended the Birth and Death Registration Act of 1969 and the Maharashtra Birth and Death Registration Rules of 2000. The move is aimed at cracking down on foreign individuals taking advantage of loopholes in the law.

“Foreign nationals by bribing the local officials and misusing the loopholes of the system, used to obtain the birth and death certificates to establish themselves as citizens of Maharashtra and India,” Maharashtra Revenue Minister Chandrashekhar Bawankule was quoted by The New Indian Express as stating. “However, as per new guidelines, one has to register for birth and death certificates within a year.”

The official added that a 3-tier system will be implemented to combat potential fraud. All applications for vital records will undergo police verification. He went on to note that birth certificate applications would need to be accompanied by a certificate from the nursing home (which can be replaced by an affidavit from the midwife in the case of home births). In the case of death certificates, a post-mortem or first information report (FIR) would be required.

If the application is made more than year after the event occurred, and criminal penalties have been introduced in the case of fraudulent submissions.

The new measures were initiated in response to the growing number of fake or fraudulent birth certificates issued to foreign nationals.