A leap towards hassle-free procedures
(Self-Attestation)
Whenever one has to appear for a job interview, apply for a passport or
open a bank account, getting the documents attested by a gazetted officer or
any authorised signing authority has always been a big hassle. However, these
cumbersome preconditions like attestations and affidavits are undergoing a
landmark reform. In a constant endeavour of the Government to simplify
procedures of attestation and certification, all Central Ministries/Departments
as well as State Government/UTs have been requested to review the existing
requirement in this regard and make provision for self-certification, wherever
possible.
Background
Self-attestation
is an essential method to affirm that the copies of documents presented as
proofs of one’s identity and whereabouts are true and original. In a country
which still functions on paperwork, a lot of documents have to be submitted
along with every form we fill. The last dates for the forms approach so soon
and half of the times we are worrying about where to find a gazetted officer
who will attest the copies of our original documents. We end up calling
friends, relatives to find one person who would attest our documents so that
the form gets submitted in time.
Recently Government of India has asked all its departments and state
governments to make provisions for self-certification and accept documents
which are self-attested as a confirmation of identity in place of attestation
by a gazetted officer. This practice has already been adopted by some of
the Central Government agencies and is being introduced in various states
gradually. University Grants Commission has also issued special instructions
through D.O.No.F. 14-1412014(CPP-ll) dated 26th September, 2014 regarding
abolition of affidavits and adoption of self-certification. This move comes as
a big relief not only to the students but also to all the individuals
associated with the academics.
Self-attestation would save time and money as people will not have to chase
officers for attestation of documents. It has been seen that some of these
officers charge for these services making it a part-time business. In most of
the cases one hardly knows the gazetted officer and getting documents attested
by a stranger seems pointless. If the government’s idea behind attestation is
an assurance of the person’s identity and character then a document attested by
a stranger is useless. The government’s initiative of switching over to self-attestation
is a welcome move as it also gives us the opportunity to take responsibility
and ownership of our own actions.
No legal hassle in going for this positive change
Self-certification might seem risky as not all self-attested documents will be
true but this puts the blame directly on the person who is attesting false
documents. He/she will be solely responsible for any false documents attested
by them.
The
advantages of self-attestation are that the public agencies can impose penal
liability for making wrong statements in terms of suspension of the services
(suspension of ration card facilities, disconnection of power supply,
etc.). This will save a lot of botheration and sizeable expenses for the
citizen who has to procure stamps/stamp paper which is mostly not available at
the place where the affidavit is to be submitted.
There
appears to be no legal problem in adopting this practice. The Indian Penal Code
contains a number of Sections such as 177, 193, 197, 198, 199 and 200. These
Sections specifically deal with the implications of any false
information/evidence/disclosure/ declaration made by the deponents and, any
such instances included shall be liable to imposition of penalties, fines,
registration of criminal cases and even imprisonment, as the case may be.
DigiLocker: Another Giant leap
The
Department of Electronics & Information Technology (DeitY) has recently
launched an Aadhaar-based e-locker service for storing documents. Users
will be able to store electronic versions of important documents like birth
certificates, voters ID cards, academic documents, etc in the e-locker. They
can also electronically sign these documents with the e-sign facility, which is
currently still being tested, and then share them with government organisations
or other entities when required. The sharing of e-documents will be done
through a registered repository, which will ensure that the documents are
authentic. This is likely to reduce usage of fake documents to a certain extent
and also minimize time spent on authenticating documents. To Sign-up for
the DigiLocker you need to have an Aadhaar number and a mobile number
registered with Aadhaar.
Following are the key features of the DigiLocker:
i. Digital Locker of each resident is linked to their Aadhaar number.
ii. 10MB of free space in the locker to securely store resident documents
and store links (URI) of Govt. department or agency issued e-documents. The
storage space allocation will be increased to 1GB in subsequent release.
iii. eSign online service to digitally sign the documents online without
using dongle. For details please refer to the e-Sign brochure available on the
portal
iv. Sharing of e-documents online with any registered requester agency or
department
v. Download eAadhaar
vi. List of issuers who have issued e-documents to residents and list of
requesters which have accessed resident’s documents.
More information on the futuristic service can be found on: https://digitallocker.gov.in/
It is
extremely important for all of us to create awareness among the citizens about
the concept of self-attestation which is purely in favour of the commoners.
This whole concept revolves around trust and responsibility. Self-certification
is a citizen-friendly initiative by the government of India that marks a
departure from the cumbersome system established since decades.
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