By Arun Pratap Singh
Haldwani (Nainital), 24 Nov: An intensive probe is currently underway across all the tehsils of Nainital district into permanent resident certificates, ration cards and related documents alleged to have been obtained through forgery over the past five years. The district administration has already scrutinised nearly two thousand resident certificates and is now examining more than 900 ration cards for possible irregularities.
It may be recalled that the probe had begun after the exposure of a racket in Haldwani involving the creation of permanent resident certificates (PRCs) on the basis of forged documents. In one case, Commissioner, Kumaon, Deepak Rawat himself found one illegally operating Common Service Centre (CSC) which had issued forged PRCs and other documents to various people, particularly living in Banbhulpura area of Haldwani. Following this, the District Magistrate also ordered an audit of all such certificates issued in every tehsil of the district, a task that SDMs have been pursuing vigorously ever since. According to the ADM, more than 48 permanent resident certificates are now facing cancellation, 12 are under re-checking, and discrepancies have been discovered in sixty others. More than nine hundred ration cards are also believed to have been fraudulently obtained on the basis of forged PRCs or other documents. This has resulted in genuine beneficiaries being deprived of their rightful entitlements. The administration is now taking action to cancel these cards, and misuse of documents ranging from Aadhaar cards to ration cards is being closely monitored.
It may be recalled that the issue surfaced as a result of a complaint made at a public hearing presided over by Kumaon Commissioner Deepak Rawat, in which it was alleged that a man from Bareilly had secured an Uttarakhand permanent resident certificate (PRCs) just two months after arriving in Haldwani, by submitting forged proofs. A confidential enquiry revealed that the certificate had in fact been procured through a petition writer working in the Haldwani tehsil office. In response, Rawat ordered a raid on a Common Service Centre (CSC) in Banbhulpura on 13 November. Officials recovered a trove of falsified paperwork, and a case was registered against the petition writer Faizan and one Laiq, the individual named on the certificate. Police investigations also uncovered the involvement of an employee of the Uttarakhand Power Corporation Limited, culminating in the arrests of all three accused.
In addition, 48 fake domicile certificates issued in Haldwani’s Banbhulpura area are also being cancelled after a detailed review by SDM Rahul Shah, acting under the direction of the District Magistrate’s office. According to officials, cross-checks included phone numbers and other supporting documents, pointing to a well-entrenched network of middlemen and document writers facilitating the fraud.
It may also be reminded here that Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami has ordered the district magistrates to crack down on illegally obtained identification documents, including ration cards, Aadhaar cards and voter cards. In the state over 3,600 ration cards and 10,000 Ayushman Bharat cards have already been cancelled. Uttarakhand High Court has also directed the government to investigate alleged bogus ration card schemes, including conversions of above-poverty-line (APL) cards into below-poverty-line (BPL) ones, and potential collusion between officers and local dealers.
This ongoing drive is part of a broader push by the state government to preserve the demography of the state and towards restoring legitimacy to essential documents, and towards ensuring that welfare benefits reach rightful beneficiaries. Local officials insist that the investigation is not just about penal action, but also about restoring public faith in the system: the misuse of forged documents—especially permanent resident certificates—undermines both governance and the rights of genuine residents.
As the verification effort intensifies, the Revenue Department, CSC operators, and local offices have been told to put in place more stringent checks and prevent further abuse. The cancellation process is continuing.
