Punjab Health and Family Welfare Minister Dr Balbir Singh launched Pehchaan on 2 September 2026 in Chandigarh, a free statewide public portal to identify unidentified and unclaimed bodies kept in government mortuaries. With this launch, Punjab has become the first state in India to create such a central digital database for unknown deceased persons. The move responds to an annual burden of 5,000 to 6,000 such deaths in the state and allows families in India and abroad to search and file claims online.
What Is the Pehchaan Portal?
Pehchaan, which means identity, is a statewide digital public identification portal created by the Punjab government for deceased persons who remain unknown in government mortuaries. An unidentified body is one whose name and address are not known, while an unclaimed body is one that no family member or acquaintance has come forward to receive even if some details exist. The portal covers such cases admitted to government mortuaries across Punjab and makes their basic identification details visible for public search.
The portal is free to use and is accessible through the official websites of the Punjab Health Department. Families living in any part of India or abroad can search the records from home. This removes the earlier need to visit multiple mortuaries or police stations in person to look for a missing relative who may have died in a road accident or in other circumstances.
This Punjab portal should not be confused with other similarly named services. The Meri Pehchaan portal of the central government is a single sign on system for using different government services, while the Pehchan portals in states like Rajasthan are civil registration systems for downloading birth, death and marriage certificates. Punjab’s Pehchaan has a different and narrow purpose. It deals only with the dignified identification of unknown deceased persons.
How the Portal Works: 48-Hour Record and Online Claim
Every unidentified or unclaimed deceased person who undergoes a postmortem in a government mortuary in Punjab must be recorded on Pehchaan within 48 hours of the postmortem. Mortuary and hospital staff upload a facial photograph, a detailed physical description and permanent identification marks. These marks include tattoos, birthmarks, scars and deformities, along with details such as approximate age, height, build, complexion and clothing found on the body.
A family searching for a missing person can open the portal and compare these details with the description of their relative. If the details appear to match, the family can submit an online claim on the portal itself. The claim goes directly into the system without any fee and without the need to travel to Punjab at the first stage.
Once a claim is filed, the system sends an automated alert to the concerned Investigating Officer (IO). An Investigating Officer is the police officer who is legally responsible for inquiring into that particular death. The officer then carries out formal verification and identification under the authority of law. This step ensures that the body is handed over only after proper checks, and it protects both the dignity of the deceased and the rights of the claimant.
| Step | What Happens | Who Acts and When |
|---|---|---|
| Recording | Photo, physical traits and identification marks are uploaded | Mortuary and medical staff, within 48 hours of postmortem |
| Searching | Family searches records online from India or abroad | Family, at any time, free of charge |
| Claiming | Family submits online claim for a matching record | Claimant through the portal |
| Verification | IO receives auto alert and conducts legal identification | Police Investigating Officer, after claim |
Why Punjab Needed This System
Punjab records between 5,000 and 6,000 deaths of unknown and unclaimed persons every year. This means about 16 such deaths every day. These cases often involve victims of road and rail accidents, migrant workers living far from home, homeless persons and others whose families do not know where to look. In many cases, a family in another state or country keeps searching while the body lies in a mortuary in Punjab with no link between the two.
Earlier, there was no single public place to see these records. Families had to contact individual hospitals, mortuaries and police stations one by one. Photographs and identification details were kept in separate local files, so matching a missing person report with an unknown body depended on chance and repeated physical visits. This caused long delays and added distress for families.
The problem matters beyond numbers. When identification fails within the legal holding period, local authorities must conduct the last rites as an unclaimed case, and the family may never learn what happened. A central online database addresses this gap directly. It preserves key visual and physical details in time, widens the search to the whole country and abroad, and creates a clear path from search to legal handover.
Technology Backbone: MedLEaPR, Police and Forensic Linkages
Pehchaan is built on MedLEaPR, which stands for Medico Legal Examination and Post-Mortem Reporting. This is Punjab’s digital system for writing and storing medico legal reports and postmortem reports. A medico legal case is any injury or death case where the police need a medical opinion for investigation, such as an accident or suspicious death. MedLEaPR was developed by the National Informatics Centre (NIC), the central technology body that builds digital systems for government, following directions of the Punjab and Haryana High Court, which is headquartered in Chandigarh.
The scale of MedLEaPR gives Pehchaan a ready network. The system already works in all 23 districts and 346 government hospitals of Punjab, with more than 6,600 registered Medical Officers. It has recorded more than 12 lakh medico legal and postmortem cases, with a reported 99.6 percent compliance rate for freezing reports on time. Report freezing means the medical report is locked digitally so it cannot be changed later, which protects its value as evidence.
MedLEaPR also connects four pillars of investigation on one platform. These are the police, the courts, health institutions and nine forensic science laboratories, including the laboratory at AIIMS Bathinda. A forensic science laboratory examines biological and physical evidence to help establish identity and cause of death. The platform maintains active integration with the Crime and Criminal Tracking Network and Systems (CCTNS). CCTNS, started in 2009 by the Ministry of Home Affairs, links police stations across the country and holds national data on missing persons, unidentified found persons and unidentified dead bodies. This link allows cross matching between a missing person report filed in one place and an unknown body recorded in Punjab.
Privacy Safeguards and Responsible Use
The Punjab government has stated that Pehchaan fully complies with the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023. This central law, passed in 2023, sets rules for how digital personal data can be collected and used. It requires those who hold data, called data fiduciaries, to keep it secure, use it only for a lawful purpose and have a system to address complaints. It also allows the State to process data for functions required under law and for responding to medical and public safety needs.
This balance is important for Pehchaan. The portal must show enough detail, such as a facial photograph and identification marks, to make identification possible, while preventing misuse of sensitive images and details. Access is provided through official Health Department websites, and final handover happens only after police verification. Health Minister Dr Balbir Singh has directed all civil surgeons, medical officers and mortuary staff to upload details promptly and treat timely reporting as a duty. A civil surgeon is the senior government doctor in charge of health services in a district.
Significance and the Way Forward
The immediate benefit of Pehchaan is for families. A family that has filed a missing person report can now check a central record without repeated travel, and a family living abroad can do the same search online. For the administration, the portal creates a clear record of every unknown case, reduces duplication across hospitals and police stations, and speeds up the legal process of identification and handover. For society, it protects the dignity of the deceased by treating every unknown person as someone with a family waiting for answers.
As the first statewide system of its kind in India, Pehchaan can also serve as a working model for other states. Its success will depend on three practical steps. First, every government mortuary must meet the 48 hour upload rule without delay. Second, police, health and forensic teams must keep their data matched through MedLEaPR and CCTNS so that missing person records and mortuary records speak to each other. Third, the public needs to know that the portal exists, especially families of long missing persons and support groups that help them. If these steps are followed, the system can turn a scattered local file into a reliable statewide bridge between the unknown dead and their families.
Key Takeaways
- Punjab launched the Pehchaan Portal on 2 September 2026, becoming the first state in India with a statewide public portal for unidentified and unclaimed bodies.
- Details including facial photographs, tattoos, birthmarks and physical description must be uploaded within 48 hours of postmortem in government mortuaries.
- The portal is free and searchable from India and abroad, and an online claim triggers an automated alert to the Investigating Officer for legal verification.
- Punjab records 5,000 to 6,000 such deaths every year, which is about 16 cases per day.
- Pehchaan is built on MedLEaPR, an NIC system active in 23 districts and 346 hospitals with over 12 lakh cases, and linked to CCTNS and nine forensic labs.
- The portal is stated to comply with the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023.
