Name Change in Caste Certificate in Uttarakhand

No. Caste, for the purpose of a certificate, comes by birth. A name is only a label.

So a person who drops a surname that names a caste, or takes a neutral one, keeps the same status in law. And a person who takes a surname used by a listed community gains nothing by it. A false claim to a reserved benefit is an offence, and a certificate obtained on a false claim can be cancelled.

Step 1: Settle the name you will use

The name on your class 10 certificate and Aadhaar. If those two differ, settle that first.

Step 2: Look at the old certificate

Note the name, the father's name, the caste as written, the number and the date.

Step 3: Ask the tehsil how it deals with a certificate issued in a wrong name

A correction of the old one, or a fresh application. Ask what it wants done with the old certificate.

Step 4: Apply on the state's portal or at the tehsil

Type the name yourself, letter by letter, as on Aadhaar. Give the father's name as on his own papers.

Step 5: Upload the proof

Identity papers, proof of the caste from the family's records, and the paper that explains the difference in the name.

Step 6: Cooperate with the enquiry

The local revenue official reports on the family. Tell the family what name is on the application.

Step 7: Download the certificate and read it

Check the name, the father's name, the caste, the village and the tehsil.

Step 8: Keep the old certificate with the linking paper

Unless the office takes it back. It shows the family's claim was accepted earlier.

A caste certificate rests on descent. The holder's claim is traced through the father's name to the family's records. So the father's name on the certificate is read with unusual care.

• It should match the father's own papers, and the father's name on the holder's school certificates.
• Where the father's caste certificate or land record has an older spelling, the office may ask how the two are linked.
• Where the father has changed his own name, his Gazette is the link.
• A mismatch here is the commonest cause of trouble at verification, more than the holder's own name.

See father's name change and correction in Uttarakhand.

Many families use a caste name as a surname on some papers and leave it off others. The certificate says "Rajesh Kumar Arya" and Aadhaar says "Rajesh Kumar", or the other way round.

• Both are the same person. The difference is in the papers, not in the community.
• Decide which form you will carry for life, and bring the identity papers to it. Aadhaar treats adding or removing a last name as a minor change, as reported.
• Then apply for a caste certificate in that form.
• Until then, a sworn statement that both forms are one person may be accepted. Ask the office that is checking.
• Where the two forms have been in use for years on many papers, a Gazette notice stating both, joined by alias, ties them together.

Dropping a caste surname is a personal choice, and it costs no entitlement. See removing a surname or caste name and alias name in a gazette notification.

• A caste certificate is issued by the state the family comes from, on that state's lists.
• A correction of the name on it is made by the office that issued it, in that state.
• Lists differ from state to state. A community listed in one state may not be listed in another, and a person who has moved does not carry the state benefit across by moving. For central purposes the position can differ.
• Families whose home is in what is now Uttarakhand, with older certificates issued before the state was formed on 9 November 2000, should ask the tehsil how those are treated.

This is a question of entitlement, not of a name. Take it to the tehsil, and to a lawyer where a post or a seat turns on it.

Step 1: Ask the office concerned what it will accept

A marriage certificate or a sworn statement may be enough.

Step 2: Fix the name you will use, and list the other form

The form on your class 10 certificate is usually the one to keep.

Step 3: Make the affidavit

State the old name, the new name, your father's or husband's name and your address. Do not make claims about caste in it. Sign before a notary.

Step 4: Publish the newspaper notice

In a daily local leading newspaper. Keep the original newspaper.

Step 5: Type the form and sign the undertaking

Two typed copies of the specimen, signed in your old name with two witnesses, and the undertaking.

Step 6: Prepare the CD, photographs and certificate

The same text on a CD in MS Word, two self-attested photographs with identity proof, and a certificate that both copies match.

Step 7: Pay the charge on BharatKosh

Commonly Rs 1,100 for an adult, with Rs 250 more for each alias. It is not refunded.

Step 8: Send the file yourself, then apply for the certificate

Send it to the Controller of Publications, Department of Publication, Civil Lines, Delhi 110054. With the published Gazette, update Aadhaar, and then apply for a caste certificate in the new name.

A typical case we handle: a candidate from Udham Singh Nagar was selected for a reserved post. His caste certificate, made when he was in school, gave his name with a caste surname, and his class 10 certificate and Aadhaar did not have it. He was asked to explain within a fortnight and came to us for a Gazette. There was no time for one, and it was not needed. He applied for a fresh certificate in the name on his class 10 certificate, gave a sworn statement meanwhile, and the appointing office accepted the two. This is an illustrative example of the type of case we handle, not a named client review.

What is a lawyer's job, not ours

A certificate questioned or cancelled, a scrutiny committee notice, a claim across state lines, and any question of caste after a change of religion or an inter-caste marriage.

When you do not need us

For a spelling, a home name, the father's name or a married name, you need the tehsil and your own papers. We are useful only where you have taken a new name, or two forms have to be linked by a Gazette. We do not advise on entitlement to a caste certificate.

How can I correct my name on my caste certificate?

Apply for a fresh certificate in the right name, on the state's portal or at the tehsil, with identity proof.

Does changing my surname change my caste?

No. Caste comes by birth. A name is only a label.

Is a gazette required to change a name on a caste certificate?

For a new name taken by choice, yes. Not for a spelling or a married name.

Does a woman's caste change after marriage?

No. Her certificate stands on her father's side.

My caste certificate has a surname and my Aadhaar does not. Is that a problem?

It has to be explained. Bring your papers to one form and get a fresh certificate.

Can I lose my reservation if I remove my caste surname?

No. Dropping a surname costs no entitlement.

What has the Uttarakhand High Court said about caste and marriage?

That caste status is acquired by birth and not by marriage. A married woman cannot be denied the benefit of her caste that she enjoyed before marriage, as long as no statute or rule requires a fresh certificate on marriage, as reported.

Must a married woman get a fresh OBC certificate on her husband's income?

No, as reported. The Uttarakhand High Court noted there is no statute or Government Order requiring a woman of an OBC community to obtain an OBC certificate on her husband's income immediately after marriage.

Can a selection board reject an OBC certificate that has not been cancelled?

In the same case, as reported, the High Court said that while a certificate issued by the tehsildar is not cancelled, it is not open to the selecting body to sit in judgment over it, and the holder keeps the benefits while it survives.

Can an Uttarakhand woman married to a man from another state get a caste certificate?

In March 2026 the High Court, in Priya Tomar v. State of Uttarakhand, heard a woman refused an OBC certificate because she married a man from Uttar Pradesh, and ordered provisional residence and caste certificates for her meanwhile. The case was listed for further hearing, so the question is not finally settled.

Can a woman become Scheduled Caste by marrying into a Scheduled Caste family?

No. The Supreme Court held in 2018, in Sunita Singh's case, that caste is determined by birth and cannot be changed by marriage with a person of a Scheduled Caste, as reported.

Can a caste certificate be cancelled without a notice?

A reported Uttarakhand High Court ruling says a mere telephone call does not satisfy the need for a show cause notice before a caste certificate is cancelled. Take a lawyer's advice if you receive any notice.