Current Context: On 2 September 2026, Punjab Health and Family Welfare Minister Dr Balbir Singh launched the Pehchaan portal in Chandigarh. Punjab became the first Indian state to introduce a statewide digital platform for identifying unidentified and unclaimed deceased persons kept in government mortuaries.
Key Points
- It enables families in India and abroad to search for missing relatives and submit identification claims online.
- Purpose: To facilitate the identification of unidentified and unclaimed deceased persons.
- Facial photographs, physical descriptions, tattoos, birthmarks, deformities and other permanent identification marks will be uploaded.
- Information must be uploaded within 48 hours of the postmortem at a government mortuary.
- Families can search the portal and submit claims online without visiting different mortuaries or police stations.
- After a claim is submitted, the concerned police investigating officer is automatically notified for legal verification.
- The portal is publicly accessible and free of charge.
- It connects all 23 districts and 346 government hospitals in Punjab.
- Approximately 5,000–6,000 people reportedly die unidentified or unclaimed in Punjab annually.
- The portal is built on MedLEaPR, an NIC-developed digital medico-legal system.
Question:
Q1. Which state became the first in India to launch the ‘Pehchaan’ portal for identifying unidentified and unclaimed deceased persons?
a) Haryana
b) Punjab
c) Rajasthan
d) Himachal Pradesh
Answer: b) On 2 September 2026, Punjab became India’s first state to launch a statewide digital public-identification portal for unidentified and unclaimed deceased persons. The Pehchaan portal was launched by Punjab Health and Family Welfare Minister Dr Balbir Singh.
