Fake Birth Certificates Under Scanner In Bengal: Verification Drive Finds Over 1.6 Lakh Suspicious Cases

Published 1 July 2026 · india

Fake Birth Certificates Under Scanner In Bengal: Verification Drive Finds Over 1.6 Lakh Suspicious Cases Reported By, Last Updated: July 01, 2026, 17:22 IST Authorities

Fake Birth Certificates Under Scanner In Bengal: Verification Drive Finds Over 1.6 Lakh Suspicious Cases Reported By, Last Updated: July 01, 2026, 17:22 IST Authorities have completed verification of both older physical certificates and digitised records, revealing substantial discrepancies Rapid Read News18 West Bengal’s large-scale verification of birth certificates has uncovered a significant number of suspected fake documents, bringing renewed attention to an issue that has remained politically and administratively contentious for years. According to the district-wise birth certificate verification report available up to June 6, 2026, authorities have completed verification of both older physical certificates and digitised records, revealing substantial discrepancies. BJP’s Shamik Bhattacharya said, “We have been raising this issue repeatedly since before the elections. Demographic changes are being carried out in several border areas, and the character of those regions has changed. The Trinamool Congress has been issuing documents such as Aadhaar cards and birth certificates with ease." NEARLY ONE IN FOUR VERIFIED DOCUMENTS SUSPICIOUS The report shows that 46,995 birth certificates issued more than one year ago were taken up for verification. Of these 44,520 certificates (94.73%) have been verified. 33,548 were found to be genuine.

10,972 were identified as not genuine. This means that around 24.6% of the verified birth certificates issued more than one year earlier were found to be non-genuine or suspected to be fake. DIGITISED RECORDS ALSO SHOW LARGE NUMBER OF SUSPICIOUS CERTIFICATES The verification exercise also covered digitised birth records. Out of 11,26,835 digitised birth certificates, authorities verified 10,15,880 certificates (90.15%). Among the verified records 8,65,706 were found to be genuine. 1,50,174 were identified as not genuine. Taken together, the verification exercise has identified more than 1.61 lakh suspected fake birth certificates across both categories. DISTRICT-WISE PATTERN For birth certificates issued more than one year ago, Kolkata recorded the highest number of suspected fake certificates. The districts with the highest numbers are Kolkata: 4,287 Murshidabad: 3,463 Purulia: 889 Darjeeling: 611 Among digitised records, the highest numbers of suspected fake certificates were found in Uttar Dinajpur: 58,509 North 24 Parganas: 19,709 Malda: 16,712 Birbhum: 8,935 The report also highlights comparatively low verification rates in several districts Purba Medinipur: 37.39% Purba Bardhaman: 66.85% Paschim Bardhaman: 71.91% Darjeeling: 75.62% ISSUE CAME INTO FOCUS DURING SIR PROCESS The issue drew widespread attention during the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) process of electoral rolls, when a case involving a resident of Baranagar triggered controversy.