After all the publicity, if any Government department or other organisation rejects your application supported by self-attested documents, don’t be surprised. The Centre is yet to issue a formal order to do away with the requirement that such documents must be attested by a gazetted officer.
“There is no notification as such,” Minister of State for Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions Jeetendra Singh told reporters here. He mentioned that it was in process and yet to be implemented fully. However, he said a formal order would be issued soon.
Making things easier
On August 1, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had sought the minimum use of affidavits and a shift to self-certification, to benefit the common man. All Central Government Ministries and State Government Departments were asked to provide for self-certification and abolition of affidavits not required by law. The Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions is responsible for issuing a formal order. It is under direct control of the Prime Minister with Singh as his deputy.
Singh reiterated that the new Government has made a major breakthrough in doing away with a six-decade-old practice of requiring attestation of documents and forms by gazetted officers and other government officials. “Hereafter, we will come out with a notification saying that a self-attested document will be good enough,” he said.
However, he clarified that the requirements of attestation by a gazetted officer may continue for jobs in the police department or when seeking an arms licence. “That is, in all fairness, because the objective is to make governance simplified and everything citizen-friendly. We would not, however, hesitate to have a dispassionate look at it. We will also consult the department concerned and, wherever necessary, retain the practice for specific reasons; we will not compromise on security,” Singh said.
False information
Although, the previous Government did issue an office memorandum, dated May 10, 2013, for promoting self-attestation and the abolition of affidavits, the practice got a boost with the new regime when not just the Cabinet Secretary and Secretary (Administrative Reforms & Public Grievances) wrote letters to have the present system of attestation reviewed but the Prime Minister himself also weighed in on the matter.
Apprehensions have been expressed in some quarters about the possibility of false information being sneaked into self-attested documents. But Singh said: “Each one of us, younger or older, realises this responsibility and the consequences of false attestation and, therefore, we expect that, by and large, this will be effective and, in the times to come, become a norm without causing any problem.”
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