Quick answer: Report the loss first, at the police station, and keep the copy. For a flood or fire a general diary entry or a non-traceable report is usually accepted instead of a full report of theft. Then swear a loss affidavit and apply for the duplicate through your own school, not directly to the board. The duplicate arrives in the old name, stamped as a duplicate. Only then apply to correct the name.
Losing papers feels like losing the record itself. It is not, and that is the first thing worth knowing.
At a Glance
| The record | Held by the board, not by your paper |
| First step | A loss report at the police station |
| For flood or fire | A diary entry or non-traceable report |
| Then | A notarised loss affidavit |
| Apply through | Your own school, not the board directly |
| The duplicate carries | The old name, stamped DUPLICATE |
| Correction | A separate application, afterwards |
| Never | Both on the same form |
Key Takeaways
- The board holds your result whether or not you hold the paper.
- A loss report comes before anything else.
- Flood and fire do not need a theft report.
- The duplicate reproduces the record, errors and all.
- Correction is a second application, never the same form.
What You Need: Quick Facts
| Roll number and year | The key to finding the record |
| Board and school name | As they were then |
| Loss report copy | From the police station |
| Loss affidavit | Notarised, with the details |
| Any surviving paper | Even a photocopy helps |
| Aadhaar | For identity at each step |
| Board fee | As prescribed, through the school |
| Patience | Weeks, sometimes a few months |
Table of Contents
- The record survives the paper
- Two applications, not one
- Reporting the loss
- Flood and fire are different
- Apply through the school
- If you have nothing at all
- What is local in Banda
- Central Gazette: the complete process and file format
- Areas we serve
- Key terms
- Related guides
- Why choose our office
- FAQs
The Record Survives the Paper
Knowing that changes the tone of the whole conversation, because you are not asking anybody for a favour.
Two Applications, Not One
| A duplicate | A correction |
|---|---|
| Asks for another copy of the record | Asks to change the record |
| Proof: that the original is lost | Proof: that the entry is wrong |
| Reproduces the name as recorded | Alters the name as recorded |
| Usually weeks | Usually longer |
| Comes first | Comes second |
The correction route, once you hold the duplicate, is on our UP Board correction page.
Reporting the Loss
Go to the police station and report it
Give the document name, the roll number and year if you know them, and roughly when and how it was lost.
Take a copy of what they record
Whatever form it takes, you need something in writing with a reference number and a date.
Then swear a loss affidavit before a notary
Naming the document, the roll number, the year, the board, how it was lost, and that you will return the original if it is found.
Take several notarised copies
Because more than one body may ask, and returning for another set is a wasted day.
Some boards also ask for a newspaper notice
Ask first rather than assuming, since it is an extra cost and not always required.
Then the application itself, through your school
With the fee the board prescribes.
Keep the loss report and the affidavit permanently, not just until the duplicate arrives, because a duplicate is sometimes queried later and those two documents explain it.
Flood and Fire Are Different
- A flood or a fire is not a theft, and people are sometimes turned away because they went in asking for the wrong thing.
- A general diary entry or a non-traceable report is usually accepted for documents destroyed rather than stolen.
- Say plainly what happened, that the papers were destroyed in water or fire on a particular date, rather than reporting a crime.
- The affidavit should say the same thing, that the original was destroyed and is beyond recovery.
- Confirm what your board wants first, because requirements differ and asking costs nothing.
Apply Through the School
If a school will not forward an application, the route is on our school refuses page, and the general escalation ladder on our Raebareli page.
If You Have Nothing At All
- Start with what other people hold, not with what you hold, because your own copy is the only thing that is actually gone.
- The board holds the result, against a roll number and a year.
- The school holds the admission and scholar register, which gives the roll number and the name as first written.
- The gram panchayat or municipal body holds the birth entry, if one was made.
- Aadhaar and the bank hold current identity, which is enough to begin most requests.
Where there was never much paper to begin with, the route that does not depend on old records at all is set out on our Firozabad page.
What Is Local in Banda
- Banda is the headquarters of its division, so escalation above the district stays here.
- Board matters go through your own school and then the District Inspector of Schools, which is where a duplicate application starts.
- Land and revenue records belong to your tehsil, and a lost khatauni copy is reissued there rather than at the district office.
- Births are registered by the district s municipal bodies and gram panchayats, and a duplicate certificate comes from whichever body made the entry.
- Most of this district lives outside a town, so those entries are usually village entries.
The land record route is on our khatauni page and the rural birth route on our gram panchayat page.
Central Gazette: the Complete Process and File Format
The gazette comes last here, if at all. It needs a marksheet to cite, so the duplicate has to exist first.
Stage 1: The loss affidavit
This is a loss affidavit and it says nothing about a name change. Keeping the two apart on paper is the same discipline as keeping them apart on the application form. Point two allows for destroyed as well as lost, which matters after a flood or a fire.
Stage 2: The name change affidavit, later
Point one cites the duplicate expressly, which is honest and avoids a question later about which document was in hand.
Stage 3: The Public Notice and CD-Certificate
Stage 4: Newspapers, fee, covering letter and dispatch
Publish in two newspapers and buy six copies
A Hindi daily and an English paper covering this district, complete original pages.
Pay Rs 1,100 on BharatKosh
Online, with two receipts printed.
Write the covering letter
To The Controller, Publication Department, Civil Line, Delhi 110054, with your mobile number and email.
Assemble, check and photocopy
A full copy set kept at home, because the file sent is never returned.
Courier it, tracked
A day or two from here to Delhi.
Then Aadhaar, and outwards from there
Everything else compares against it.
Scan Everything You Still Have
Fees and Time
| Loss report | No fee |
| Loss affidavit | Rs 100 to 500 including stamp paper and notary |
| Board duplicate fee | As prescribed, through the school |
| Duplicate timeline | Weeks, sometimes a few months |
| Correction, afterwards | Its own application and timeline |
| Adult gazette fee | Rs 1,100, if a name is genuinely changing |
| Cost of mixing the two | A returned file and a fresh start |
Where a gazette is genuinely needed, the envelope is: covering letter with your phone and email, affidavit (notarised), Public Notice typed in two copies with two witnesses on each, CD in MS-Word format with the signed CD-Certificate, both complete newspaper pages, photo identity proof, address proof, photographs and the BharatKosh receipt.
Before You Apply: Check These
- Have you reported the loss and kept the copy?
- Are you applying for a duplicate only, with no correction on the same form?
- Do you know the roll number and year, or where to find them?
- Are you applying through your school rather than directly?
After the Duplicate Arrives: What Follows
Photograph it before it goes anywhere. Then, if the name on it is wrong, begin the correction as a fresh application citing the duplicate. And keep the loss report and affidavit with it, permanently, because a duplicate attracts questions that an original does not.
What Other Websites Get Wrong
- Wrong: a lost certificate means a lost qualification. Right: the board holds the record independently of your copy.
- Wrong: ask for the duplicate and the correction together. Right: different proofs, different applications, and the file comes back.
- Wrong: you must file a theft report. Right: for flood or fire, a diary entry or non-traceable report is usually accepted.
- Wrong: apply directly to the board. Right: school and board certificates are applied for through the school.
- Wrong: nothing can be done if the school has closed. Right: the board s register does not depend on the school.
Areas We Serve in Uttar Pradesh
Banda and its division, and the rest of the state. Most often these:
| Rohilkhand and Bundelkhand | Bareilly, Moradabad, Rampur, Shahjahanpur, Budaun, Pilibhit, Bijnor, Amroha, Jhansi, Banda, Mahoba, Chitrakoot |
| Awadh and central UP | Lucknow, Kanpur, Unnao, Raebareli, Sitapur, Hardoi, Barabanki, Lakhimpur Kheri, Sultanpur, Ayodhya, Amethi, Bahraich |
| Purvanchal and eastern UP | Varanasi, Prayagraj, Gorakhpur, Azamgarh, Jaunpur, Ballia, Deoria, Mirzapur, Basti, Ghazipur, Mau, Sonbhadra |
| Western UP and NCR | Noida, Greater Noida, Ghaziabad, Meerut, Agra, Aligarh, Mathura, Bulandshahr, Muzaffarnagar, Saharanpur, Hapur, Firozabad |
Within Bundelkhand we work with families across Banda, Atarra, Baberu, Naraini, and in Chitrakoot, Hamirpur, Mahoba and Jalaun alongside. Losing papers to water or fire is common enough here that the same order of rebuilding applies across the region. Papers reach us by photograph and we send the wording back typed. Our chamber is at Chamber No. 19, Sadar Tehsil, Sector 5, Gomti Nagar Vistar, Lucknow 226010, and the wider picture is on our districts page. Call 9540003316 or WhatsApp 9540005002.
Key Terms on This Page
Plain definitions for the words that come up at the counter:
- Affidavit
- A statement you swear is true, signed before a notary on stamp paper. The notary confirms you signed it, not that the contents are true.
- Notary Public
- An officer who attests that a document was signed in front of them. They verify the signature, not the facts written above it.
- Department of Publication
- The office at Civil Line, Delhi that receives name change files and publishes the notification.
- Name correction
- Fixing a name that was written wrongly by somebody else. Lighter than a change, because an older document already shows the right version.
- Name change
- Adopting a different name from the one your documents correctly record. This is the case that usually needs publication.
- DIOS
- The District Inspector of Schools, the officer a board correction is escalated to when a school will not forward it.
Related Guides on This Site
Whichever counter you reach next, there is a guide for it here:
- UP Board correction: the second application, once the duplicate exists.
- if the school will not forward it: the DIOS route.
- name change in Firozabad: when there was never much paper to begin with.
- name change in Raebareli: escalating when an office will not act.
- land records: reissued at your tehsil.
- gram panchayat records: where most births here were entered.
- name change in Sitapur: older relatives, whose papers are hardest to rebuild.
- name change in Hapur: when an online copy differs from the paper.
- the gazette guide: which needs a marksheet to cite.
- forty questions answered: ordered by how much the answer changes.
- contact the office: phone and WhatsApp.
Why We Split It Into Two Jobs
People who have lost documents want one application that fixes everything, and we understand why. But a duplicate and a correction are answered by different parts of the same office, using different proofs, and a form carrying both satisfies neither. So we split it: the loss affidavit and the duplicate application first, then the correction as a separate matter afterwards. That is two waits instead of one and we say so at the start, because the alternative is a returned file and a fresh start, which is longer still. Where a whole household s papers went in a flood, we also help decide the order to rebuild them in, which matters more than any single application. Vipin Chauhan, B.Tech LL.B, splits it deliberately.
- We split duplicate and correction: because one form satisfies neither.
- We write a loss affidavit that says destroyed where that is true: not stolen.
- We cite the duplicate expressly in the later affidavit: which avoids a question.
- We set the order for rebuilding a whole file: marksheet outwards.
Associate office at Chamber No. 19, Sadar Tehsil, Sector 5, Gomti Nagar Vistar, Lucknow 226010, serving all 75 districts of Uttar Pradesh including Banda, Monday to Saturday, 10 AM to 6:30 PM. Call 9540003316 or WhatsApp 9540005002.
Tell Us What Is Missing and What Is Left
Uttar Pradesh Name Change
Associate Office: Chamber No. 19, Sadar Tehsil, Sector 5, Gomti Nagar Vistar, Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh 226010
Head Office: Metro Pillar 337, Hardev Nagar, Street 1, Shop No 1 (Shri Sham Documentation)
Call: 9540003316
WhatsApp: 9540005002
Email: info@uttarpradeshnamechange.com
Hours: Mon to Sat, 10 AM to 6:30 PM
Tell us which documents are gone and what is still in the house, even photocopies. A roll number and a year are usually enough to start.
Get Call and Name Change Format
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Name Change in Banda: FAQs
My marksheet is lost. Is the qualification gone?
No. The board holds the result against your roll number and year, independently of the copy you were given.
Can I ask for the duplicate and the name correction together?
No. They need different proofs and are handled differently, so a form carrying both gets returned.
What order should they go in?
Duplicate first, which arrives in the old name, then the correction as a separate application citing that duplicate.
My papers were destroyed in a flood, not stolen.
Say exactly that. A general diary entry or a non-traceable report is usually accepted, and the affidavit should say destroyed rather than lost.
Do I apply to the board directly?
No. School and board certificates are applied for through your own school, which forwards it.
The school has closed.
The successor school or the district education office can usually certify, because the board s register does not depend on the school.
I do not know my roll number.
The school register, an old photocopy, a sibling s memory or a written request to the board can all recover it.
Will the duplicate look different?
Yes, it is normally stamped as a duplicate, and that is expected rather than a problem.
Do I need a newspaper notice for the duplicate?
Some boards ask for one. Confirm before spending, since it is not always required.
A whole household s papers were lost. Where do we start?
One loss report and one affidavit covering everything, then the marksheet duplicate first, because most other documents are rebuilt from it.
How long does a duplicate take?
Weeks, sometimes a few months, so start before you need it rather than when a deadline appears.
What is the cheapest thing I can do today?
Photograph every document still in the house, including the older relatives papers, and store the pictures somewhere other than your phone.
Official Sources
- Your own school and the office of the District Inspector of Schools, through which board duplicates and corrections are applied for.
- The board that conducted your examination, which holds the record and sets the form, fee and timeline.
- District Banda at banda.nic.in, for tehsils, local bodies and services.
- Department of Publication, Civil Line, Delhi 110054, for Central Gazette notification.
Facts here are checked against these sources and our own casework in Bundelkhand. Boards differ in what they require for a duplicate, so confirm the current form, fee and whether a newspaper notice is needed before you spend anything.
The Short Version
A tin box goes in a flood, a house is emptied after a death, a bag does not arrive after a move, and the certificates are gone. It feels as though the qualification went with them, and it did not. Your paper was a copy issued to you once; the board s register holds the result against your roll number and year and does not depend on that copy at all, which is why this works even when the school has since closed. So the task is not to recreate a certificate but to ask for another copy of a record that still exists. There is one rule that saves months, and almost nobody is told it: a duplicate and a correction are two different applications, with different proofs, and a form carrying both satisfies neither. Get the duplicate first, in the old name, stamped as a duplicate, and apply to correct it afterwards. And for a flood or a fire, say destroyed rather than stolen.