Assam: Birth certificates destroyed in South Salmara PHC

24 July 2018:

Two individuals, including an advocate from South Salmara, have filed an FIR with the South Salmara police alleging that some officials of the South Salmara public health centre (PHC) destroyed documents pertaining to birth certificates in the wake of the updation of National Register of Citizens (NRC).

In the FIR, the duo – advocate Anisur Rahman and Azaharul Islam -- wrote: “During the process of updation of NRC, a large number of people of South Salmara had enclosed birth certificates as proof of their legacy. However, when the NRC authorities approached the PHC officials during the verification of the certificates, they replied that the records were not available with them from 1985-2010 and the same was washed out. As a result, the people of South Salmara are suffering from irreparable loss”.

The complainants said they had learnt from reliable sources that all the records pertaining to issuance of birth certificates from 1985-2010 were kept concealed and would be damaged in collusion with the officials of the PHC. However, InsideNe accessed photographs showing the purported documents being destroyed.

Pointing out that the other documents of the PHC were intact, the complainants said the officials were doing this to protect their jobs and troubled legal consequences.

“Moreover, from 2010, the hospital authority issued a number of birth certificates using one serial number. In this regard, we approached the higher authority several times but no action was taken. Being concerned people of the area, we were compelled to lodge the complaint seeking a fair investigation,” they said.

When contacted, Deputy Commissioner Atika Sultana told InsideNe that she had asked the circle officer to conduct a probe into the charges.