Over 11,500 Birth and Death Certificate Applications Pending in Pune District, Causing Delays in Admissions and Passports
Over 11,500 Birth and Death Certificate Applications Pending in Pune District, Causing Delays in Admissions and Passports
Pune, July 24, 2026: More than 11,500 applications for corrections and amendments to birth and death certificates are pending in Pune district, causing significant delays in school admissions, passport processing, and other essential citizen services.
Officials attribute the growing backlog to a shortage of manpower, increased workload following changes to the Civil Registration System (CRS) portal, and procedural bottlenecks at the district level.
According to district authorities, the issue began escalating after June 8, when the CRS portal started routing not only new birth and death registrations but also digitisation requests and applications for digital copies of older certificates to the District Registrar for approval. The sudden centralisation of approvals has placed immense pressure on the district office.
Under existing rules, local registrars at municipal corporations, municipalities, and panchayat samitis are authorised to make minor corrections, such as spelling mistakes, typographical errors, and language-related changes. However, applications involving changes in names or other major corrections are forwarded to the district level.
Officials say that instead of handling routine corrections locally, many civic bodies have begun forwarding nearly all applications to the district office, leading to a massive accumulation of pending cases. The problem is reportedly affecting several districts across Maharashtra.
The delays have left thousands of citizens waiting for corrected certificates required for school and college admissions, passport applications, government documentation, and other official procedures.
District Registrar of Births and Deaths Dr. Ramchandra Hankare questioned the legal framework behind the current approval process.
“There appears to be no legal provision requiring the District Registrar to approve these records. Moreover, the original records are not maintained at the district level. The fundamental question is why approvals have been centralised at the district office,” he said.
Officials also cited limited manpower and technical constraints in handling the CRS portal efficiently. Some staff members are reportedly reluctant to process complex correction requests due to concerns over accountability and the possibility of legal or disciplinary action in case of errors.
With the backlog continuing to grow, citizens and officials alike are urging the state government to streamline the approval process, strengthen staffing, and decentralise routine corrections to ease the burden on district authorities and speed up the issuance of birth and death certificates.
