You don’t have to dread government offices as the government decided
to cut down on red tapism and simplify rules and regulations which had outlived
their utility. The government has sought minimum use of affidavits and shift to
self-certification, so as to benefit the common man.
In a citizen-friendly initiative, all Ministries and Departments
of the Union Government, and all State Governments, have been asked to make
provision for self-certification of documents in place of affidavits. The requirement of attestation by
Gazetted Officer is also sought to be replaced by self-certification by the
citizen. This essentially means
self attestation is more than sufficient when it comes to submitting
photocopies. Under the self-certification method, the original documents are
required to be produced at the final stage. It
is expected to benefit the people immensely, as all affidavits not required by
law shall eventually be done away with.
In communications addressed to all Secretaries of the Union
Government as well as the Chief Secretaries of States/Administrators of Union
Territories, the Department of Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances has
noted that “obtaining either an attested copy or affidavit not only costs money
to the poor citizen but also involves wastage of time of the citizens as well
as of the Government officials.” The
Department has called for a review of the existing requirement of affidavits
and attestation by Gazetted Officers, and replacement by self-certification.
In case of false self-certification, relevant provisions under the
Indian Penal Code would apply.
