Order issued to cancel fake birth–death registrations after verifying Prothom Alo report

A government investigation has found Prothom Alo’s investigative report to be true, confirming that fake birth and death registrations were carried out in Brahmanbaria in the name of meeting official targets.

Following the publication of the report, the district administration has ordered the identification and cancellation of the fraudulent registrations.

An investigation report sent to the Cabinet Division on 8 January states that, in line with Prothom Alo’s findings, on-the-ground verification has established the truth of the practice of meeting birth and death registration targets through forgery.

Officials at various levels of the district’s local government department said that field investigations were conducted for each fake certificate highlighted in Prothom Alo’s report in the four unions it examined. Assistant registrars or administrative officers of the union parishads admitted their mistakes and sought apology.

In a letter signed by District Commissioner Sharmin Akter Jahan, it was stated that the process of identifying fake registrations must be strictly monitored. If any irregularity is found, the severity of punishment must be doubled.

On 11 January, the district commissioner held a consultation meeting with officials concerned with birth and death registration. On 13 January, a letter containing eight directives was issued to field-level officials.

How fake registration issues came to light

On 26 December, Prothom Alo published an investigative report titled “Prothom Alo investigation: Fake birth, death registrations of children to meet targets.”

The report revealed that multiple fake registrations had been created using the personal details of real individuals stored in the birth and death registration databases preserved at union parishad offices.

Such fake registrations were identified through field visits to Sadekpur and Budhal unions in Brahmanbaria Sadar upazila, Kuti union in Kasba upazila, and Char Chartala union in Ashuganj upazila.

The incidents were particularly prevalent in the case of children. Many registrations were issued for children who were never actually born. On paper, their births and deaths were shown as having occurred.

On 13 January, Brahmanbaria deputy commissioner Sharmin Akter Jahan told Prothom Alo that she had sent an investigation report to the ministry.

She said she had found the information on fake registrations published in Prothom Alo to be accurate. The authorities investigated all four locations where Prothom Alo had uncovered evidence of forgery.

The district commissioner further said that the fake registrations mainly occurred due to pressure to meet predetermined birth and death registration targets. The matter has been informed to the ministry, and necessary measures will be taken to prevent such fraudulent registrations.

After reviewing the investigation report, deputy commissioner Sharmin Akter Jahan held a consultation meeting on 11 January with municipal administrators, upazila nirbahi officers (UNOs), union parishad chairmen or administrators or panel chairmen, and relevant officials.

At the meeting, she instructed that registrations must be carried out strictly on the basis of authentic information, not fabricated data.

It is learned that during the meeting, the district commissioner said that Prothom Alo’s report had become the “talk of the town, the talk of the country.”

She described such incidents as deeply embarrassing. At that time, several assistant registrars mentioned the pressure to meet targets. The district commissioner then told them, “Do not work to meet targets—work with real information.”

On 13 January, the district commissioner’s office issued a letter to field-level officials. The letter stated that administrative officers of union parishads and municipal executive officers must identify fake registrations from the year 2025 in their respective registration offices, inform the district commissioner’s office, and send proposals for their cancellation.

The process of identifying fake registrations must be strictly monitored, and if any deviation is found, steps must be taken to double the level of punishment.

Along with collecting a list of all newborns of 2025 from the civil surgeon and ensuring their prompt registration, a total of eight directives were issued.