Forging date of birth by a senior officer occupying the post of Special Secretary in the crucial and sensitive department of Home of J&K Union Territory; his forced retirement and subsequent arrest has made headlines in local media and also social media. This news shocked the people and amused many on the failure of the government to check such a fraudulent persons holding a senior and sensitive position in J&K having their dubious past and malicious intents.
This is not the first such case in Jammu and Kashmir. The erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir has been, rather notorious in the matter where many of its officials were found fudging documents like– Date of Birth, Academic Qualification Certificates, Eligibility Certificate of preferences and reservations for getting government jobs and promotions at the cost of genuine aspirants.
In the recent past, a top bureaucrat working as Secretary of ARI and Trainings was arrested in J&K for cheating and tempering his date of Birth in 2018. Yet in another case, an Inspector General of Police from Kashmir was retired in 2011 forcibly after his date of birth was found tempered by him. A decade ago, even a senior officer from J&K’s Accounts Service and later inducted into IAS cadre was sacked by the order of J&K High Court. There are instances where the officials in J&K dismissed from the service after finding fake educational documents, reservation certificates/category certificates.
A question often raised is as to why such incidences of forgeries are being done here in the personal documents and official records. The answer is simple. A state where norms are thrown to winds; transparency in public life is elusive and accountability is alien to the public affairs, all means of grabbing government job, money-flowing opportunities are justified and there was no one to challenge the corrupt and decayed system.
The possibilities of many still servicing in the jobs- civil and police or other spheres with fake documents may not be ruled out. If a thorough probe is ordered to verify the documents of all in the government jobs, many skeletons will spill over.
The legal machinery generally comes into action when there is a complaint from one who feels that someone’s date of birth comes in the way of his special interests like promotion in the job or otherwise. The situation though seems to have changed after Article 370 has gone and such type of incident may have become difficult, but the cleaning process of J&K administration in much needed. Let the black sheep in the system be exposed and thrown out.
Let us return to the basic document and hold some truthful light on our birth certificates, and not fool others into believing your age, which it is not.
