Kolkata: The West Bengal government on Friday issued a notification ordering reverification of birth certificates issued in the state between 2021 and 2026, covering the last five years of the previous Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress regime.

In the notification issued by the office of the West Bengal Chief Secretary, Manoj Kumar Agarwal, the reverification will cover birth certificates issued in both “digital” and “offline” modes. Sub-divisional officers (SDOs) and block development officers (BDOs) have been entrusted with the task.

After the new Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-ruled government, led by Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari, came to power in West Bengal, it said it had noticed several irregularities in birth certificate issuance under the previous regime, especially in the last five years.

A large number of fake birth certificates came to the notice of the Election Commission of India (ECI) during the special intensive revision (SIR) exercise in the state before the recently concluded assembly elections earlier this year.

That is why the new state government decided to reverify all the birth certificates issued during the last five years of the previous regime. As per the notification, BDOs will verify certificates in rural areas, while SDOs will handle urban areas.

If necessary, BDOs and SDOs will have the authority to form investigation teams for that purpose. An officer from the state secretariat at Nabanna said special emphasis will be placed on delayed registrations.

The state government has also said it will conduct a thorough investigation to examine the documents verified while issuing birth certificates and whether the laid-down rules were followed.

As per the notification, the documents checked during the reverification process and their results must be uploaded to the ‘Birth-Death Information Portal’. The Chief Secretary's office has also instructed the preparation of a detailed report for each birth certificate.

The reports should mention whether the birth certificates in question were original, fake or defective. In addition, the BDOs and SDOs have been asked to consider the authority of the person who issued the certificate.

“If any certificate is found to be fake or illegal, then the specific reason must be documented. The BDOs and SDOs have been instructed to complete this verification process by September,” said a state secretariat insider.