The Nagpur District Collector has sought changes to the State Government’s ‘Aaple Sarkar’ portal to prevent the issuance of income certificates without proper verification. The Collector wrote to the Principal Secretary of the Revenue and Forests Department in Mumbai on October 6. The letter was sent following concerns raised by the Nagpur Bench of the Bombay High Court in a public interest litigation (PIL). Advocate Sundeep Badana, who filed the PIL, alleged that the Government’s April 20, 2026, circular had failed to address the basic problem of income verification. He argued that the changes had only made the process of issuing Economically Weaker Section (EWS) certificates faster.

 

The petition also questioned whether the introduction of standardised digital templates and QR codes on the portal had improved verification. Badana contended that digitisation alone could not prevent the issuance of certificates without proper scrutiny. Following the concerns raised in court, the Collector has recommended changes to the online application process. The recommendations include making it mandatory to mention the names of all adult family members, their occupations and individual incomes. Applicants should also provide the PAN card numbers of all adult family members. The proposed changes aim to ensure that the total income of a family is properly assessed before a certificate is issued. The issue came to light during the court proceedings, which highlighted gaps in the existing system. These gaps could allow ineligible persons to obtain income certificates.