Chandigarh, September 2, 2026 (Yes Punjab News)
Punjab has become the first state in India to launch a statewide public digital portal, 'Pehchaan', aimed at helping identify unknown and unclaimed deceased persons admitted to government mortuaries across the state.
Punjab Health and Family Welfare Minister Dr Balbir Singh formally launched the portal in Chandigarh on Wednesday, describing it as a humanitarian and technological initiative aimed at helping families find closure without having to visit mortuaries or police stations.
Under the initiative, facial photographs, permanent identification marks such as tattoos, birthmarks and deformities, along with detailed physical descriptions of every unidentified and unclaimed deceased person, will be uploaded to the portal within 48 hours of the postmortem at any government mortuary in Punjab.
The portal will be publicly accessible free of cost through the official websites of the Health Department and can be searched by families from anywhere in India and abroad. Once a claimant submits an online claim, the concerned Investigating Officer will be automatically notified to undertake formal identification through the competent legal authority.
Dr Balbir Singh said approximately 5,000 to 6,000 people die as unknown and unclaimed persons in Punjab every year, stressing that each of them belonged to a family that could still be waiting for answers.
“Every year, approximately 5,000 to 6,000 human beings die as unknown and unclaimed in Punjab alone. They were someone's son, daughter, spouse, or parent, and somewhere a family is still waiting for them,” he said. “The dignity of the dead is as much our responsibility as the health of the living, and Pehchaan ensures every family gets that crucial closure.”
The minister said the portal has been built on Punjab's digital medico-legal software, MedLEaPR, an NIC-developed system created following directions of the Punjab and Haryana High Court.
MedLEaPR is currently operational across all 23 districts and 346 government hospitals, with more than 6,600 registered Medical Officers. It has recorded over 12 lakh medico-legal and postmortem cases and has achieved a 99.6 per cent compliance rate for timely report freezing.
According to Dr Balbir Singh, MedLEaPR connects police, courts, health institutions and nine forensic science laboratories, including AIIMS Bathinda. It is also integrated with the Crime and Criminal Tracking Network & Systems (CCTNS) to facilitate cross-matching with missing-person records.
Punjab's medico-legal documentation model has been studied and adopted by nearly 30 States and Union Territories, the minister said, describing it as a national benchmark.
Dr Balbir Singh also affirmed that the Pehchaan portal complies with the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023. He urged civil surgeons, medical officers and mortuary staff to ensure timely reporting, describing their role as a compassionate link between unidentified deceased persons and families searching for their missing loved ones.