In another major case highlighting misuse of online government platforms, several instances of marriage registrations based on forged Parivar Pehchan Patra (PPP) records have surfaced in Hisar district. The alleged manipulation was aimed at fraudulently securing benefits under the Mukhyamantri Vivah Shagun Yojana and other welfare schemes meant for Below Poverty Line (BPL) families.
Sources said the fraud came to light after officials noticed an unusual rise in marriage registrations in the district. A closer examination of records uploaded on the SARAL portal — the state’s unified online citizen service platform — revealed a suspicious pattern. In most cases, either the bride or groom belonged to Barwala subdivision in Hisar, while the other party was shown to be from Sonepat district. The marriages had reportedly been registered through online authentication using PPP details, without physical appearance of the applicants.
Officials probing the matter suspect the involvement of an organised inter-district racket exploiting loopholes in the digital verification system to obtain government benefits fraudulently. The matter has been brought to the notice of the Deputy Commissioner, Hisar, who is examining the case.
During verification, some of the registrations were cross-checked with data available with the Citizen Resources Information Department (CRID), which manages PPP records and provides beneficiary data to departments implementing welfare schemes. The scrutiny revealed that several PPPs used in the registrations actually belonged to residents of Sonepat, Sirsa and Yamunanagar districts, even though one of the applicants was shown as being from Barwala in Hisar district.
Officials also found cases where applicants seeking marriage registration were already married and even had children.
Investigators concluded that fraudsters had altered details such as home district and other information in their PPP records to become eligible for benefits under the Mukhyamantri Vivah Shagun Yojana. Under the scheme, financial assistance of Rs 71,000 is provided for the marriage of girls from Scheduled Caste BPL families, Rs 51,000 for girls from non-BPL families of widows or divorced women, and Rs 41,000 for girls from other communities with annual family income below Rs 1.8 lakh.
The case has also revived concerns over misuse of digital authentication systems. Earlier in Hisar, authorities had detected the use of a “rubber thumb impression” by an Aadhaar computer operator, where authorised biometric logins were allegedly misused by unauthorised persons for Aadhaar authentication procedures. That case too remains under investigation.
A similar scandal involving tampering of PPP records had surfaced in Jhajjar district last year. Around 12,000 cases were reportedly detected in which fake divorce certificates were submitted to manipulate income records and create separate Family IDs to avail benefits meant for BPL families.
When contacted, Hisar Deputy Commissioner Mahender Pal did not respond to calls seeking his version on the matter.
