Population boom or data gone rogue? Probe ordered as Yavatmal panchayat with 1,500 people logs 27,000 births in three months

An offence has been registered under relevant sections of the BNS and the IT Act in the matter, police said.

Authorities in Maharashtra have ordered a probe after an extraordinary anomaly was detected in birth records uploaded to the Civil Registration System (CRS) from the Shendursani Gram Panchayat in Arni taluka in Yavatmal district, which reported nearly 27,000 births in just three months despite having a population of around 1,500.

The irregularity surfaced during routine scrutiny of CRS data for the September–November quarter, when officials noticed an unusually high number of birth registrations attributed to a single village panchayat in Arni. Preliminary verification showed that the village's actual population strength makes such figures demographically impossible.

Senior district officials said the registrations appeared to have been uploaded using the login credentials of the gram panchayat registrar, raising serious questions about data manipulation, misuse of access, or technical malpractice.

"This is a clear case of gross discrepancy. Whether it is human error, misuse of the CRS portal, or deliberate manipulation will be established through a detailed inquiry," a district official said.

The state health department has directed an immediate audit of all birth entries made from the panchayat during the period in question. Officials have also been asked to verify whether similar anomalies exist in death registrations or other civil records linked to the same login.

Sources said the probe will examine whether the CRS credentials were shared, compromised, or misused to upload bulk data unrelated to the village. The role of the gram sevak, registrar, and supervising officials will also come under scrutiny.

The Civil Registration System is used nationwide to record births and deaths and serves as the basis for issuing legal identity documents, welfare eligibility, and population data. Any manipulation of the database, officials said, could have wider implications for governance and public policy.

The inquiry revealed that 27,397 birth and seven death records did not fall within the gram panchayat's jurisdiction and were deemed suspicious. A technical investigation was then initiated which revealed that the login system confirmed that the CRS ID of Shendursani was mapped to Mumbai.

BJP leader Kirit Somaiya, who visited the village on Wednesday, claimed that the credentials of the Shendurshani gram panchayat's computer operator appeared to have been misused, and that "99.99% of the names found in these records" belonged to people from West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh and nearby regions.

"I have spoken to Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and demanded that all these birth registration entries be cancelled," Somaiya was quoted as saying by Times Of India.

An offence has also been registered under various sections of the BNS and the IT Act and a probe has been launched, police said.