Village council officials ‘charging fees illegally’

Charge of Rs200 for verification of various certificates

HARIPUR:

Secretaries of various village councils in the Haripur district have discovered a novel way of fleecing the poor.

They have started charging Rs200 for the verification of different certificates, which was not the case earlier. People have strongly protested against the fee imposed by the village council secretaries.

According to the sources, in various village councils, the secretaries have started charging Rs200 for the verification of birth or death certificates.

A total of Rs1000 is being charged on the verification of five certificates. Sources said that top officials of the local government were aware of the new practice but they were not taking any action. People show up at the offices of village councils for the verification of different forms and dozens of forms are verified every day.

The affected citizens have asked the high-ups to take notice of the issue and the fee levied for the verification of birth and death certificates should be abolished immediately. The Haripur deputy commissioner's office and the local government’s office said that complainants should approach them with written applications and departmental action will be taken against those found involved in illegal practices.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 22^nd, 2022.