No more affidavits, interviews for government jobs

NEW DELHI: Path-breaking initiatives like discontinuation of affidavits for host of government services and ending job interviews for various posts from January 1 among other initiatives kept the Ministry of Personnel in news during 2015.

"The most revolutionary and path-breaking decision is abolition of attestation of certificates by gazetted officers instead promoting self-attestation," Minister of State for Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions Jitendra Singh told PTI.

He said the government took this decision as it was willing to trust citizens, more importantly it's youth who will not give wrong information while submitting self-attested documents.

This decision has come as a big relief to common people, especially those living in rural areas, who had to take lot of pain in getting documents attested.

The Ministry also recently discontinued the practice of submission of affidavit by the family members of deceased government employees for the appointment on compassionate grounds.

Now people are required to submit self-declaration at the time of applying for compassionate appointment. All states and union territories have also been asked by the Centre to do away with practice of getting gazetted officer-signed affidavit and seek self-attestation.

Singh, a Lok Sabha member from Jammu and Kashmir's Udhampur constituency, said soon after Prime Minister Narendra Modi's announcement to end interviews from government jobs, his Ministry has acted on it.

"We have decided that from January 1, next year, the process of interview for Group C and D recruitments will be abolished," he said, adding that these are some steps which nobody thought of in past over 60 years after country's independence.