Self Attestation… At Last!

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.