Tamil Nadu to accept self attestation of certificates by individuals

CHENNAI: In a major administrative reform to help students and job seekers in the state, the Tamil Nadu government has directed all its departments to do away with the practice of attestation of certificates by its officers.

While the Centre had written to states asking them to promote self-attestation of documents in place of notarised and gazetted officer-signed affidavits required for majority of government-related works, it is yet to come out with an official order in this regard.

The Tamil Nadu government would instead provide for self attestation of certificates by the individuals themselves. They should produce the originals at the time of interview or final appointments to the post as the case may be, a September 23 gazetted order said.

Since the earlier practice of attestation of certificates by Group A and B officers was not citizen-friendly and led to great difficulty, apart from much wastage of time to both citizens and government officials, there was a need to revise the existing procedure, it said.

As originals for attested copies need to be produced during interview for verification, attestation by the gazetted officers "does not really solve any purpose as the final verification is completed only after the originals are produced," the order by Principal Secretary to the Government (Personnel and Administrative Reforms) P W C Davidar said.

Minister of State for Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions, Jitendra Singh had said last week in Delhi that introducing a single, self-attested affidavit would go a long way in simplifying processes and revolutionising governance in the country and was a good governance initiative.

At present, an individual has to spend about Rs 200-500 to get a notarised affidavit, where as getting a certificate or affidavit from a gazetted officer is a herculean task for the common man, especially those living in remote areas of the country.