Aligarh: Woman declared dead while going to get husband's death certificate made, now running around offices:

News Topical, Digital Desk : A major case of negligence by administrative officials has come to light in Aligarh. A woman went to obtain a death certificate for her husband, but the officials declared her dead on paper. Now, the woman is running around government offices to prove she's alive. Meanwhile, the officials are shirking their responsibility, citing an investigation.

This case is from the Khair area of Aligarh district. Saroj Devi, a resident of Chaman Nagariya village, lost her husband, Jagdish Prasad, on February 19, 2000. She did not apply for a death certificate at the time. Time passed, and more than 20 years later, when she needed a death certificate for pension formalities, she approached the block office and the village panchayat secretary.

The woman's name was recorded in the death certificate instead of her husband's.

Complainant Saroj Devi explains that from 2020 to 2022, she made hundreds of visits to the block office and to the village panchayat secretary, Madhup Saxena. She submitted documents several times and had them verified several times, but the certificate was never issued.

When the certificate was finally issued on October 19, 2022, she was devastated. The document, which should have contained her husband's name, had Saroj Devi's own name instead of the deceased's. This meant that, according to the records, Saroj Devi was "dead," and her husband was "alive."

Every time I got only assurances from the officials

This wasn't a simple clerical error, but a mistake that rendered a living woman "dead" on paper. After receiving the incorrect certificate, Saroj Devi immediately appealed to the block and panchayat secretaries to correct it. But she received nothing except assurances like, "The process is ongoing," "An investigation will be conducted," and "The file has been sent."

Saroj Devi says this mistake isn't just about changing a certificate, but is affecting every aspect of her life. She is deprived of her rights and unable to update many important documents.

Appeal made on Sampoorna Samadhan Diwas

When the issue remained unresolved despite repeated visits to various offices, Saroj Devi submitted her petition to the SDM on November 15, 2024, during the Sampoorna Samadhan Diwas. She informed officials that her husband's death certificate had been incorrectly prepared, and his name had been listed as deceased. She stated that this error was so serious that it was affecting her entire life and that it needed to be corrected immediately.

SDM ordered an investigation

After hearing the complaint on the Sampoorna Samadhan Diwas, SDM Khair Shishir Kumar Singh considered the matter serious and said, "The woman's application has been received. After conducting an investigation with the Panchayat Secretary, the Khair Block has been directed to resolve the matter as soon as possible."