Documents for govt work can be self-attested

The government has decided to do away with the necessity of filing affidavits from a gazetted officer or a notary for a big chunk of government-related work. Self-attested documents such as birth certificate and mark sheets will be sufficient. The original documents will need to be produced at the final stage.

The government has also asked states to review the existing requirement of attaching such affidavits with various application forms and instead implement self-attestation of documents, said an official in the Department of Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances. For the common man, getting an affidavit is a troublesome process, requiring them to find a gazetted officer or spend money to get affidavits from a notary. They end up paying Rs 100 to Rs 500 for getting affidavits from a notary. Most of the gazetted officials also do not give their nod for affidavits in the absence of sufficient documents.

The switch to self-attestation in government-related work is based on the recommendation of the second Administrative Reforms Commission in its 12th report titled ‘Citizen-centric administration – The heart of governance’. It had recommended simplifying the procedures in favour of self-certification.

An office memorandum sent by the department of administrative reforms and public grievances to the state chief secretaries said the method of self-attestation was ‘citizen-friendly’ and ‘obtaining either an attested copy or an affidavit not only costs money but also involves wastage of time of the citizens and the government officials’.

However, self-attestation of documents will not be permitted for those works where it is a statutory requirement.