Self-attestation offers relief to aam aadmi
The push for self-certification of official documents is a huge step towards cutting red tape and reducing the common man's bureaucratic burden. This past week, the Prime Minister once again called upon all Union Government departments and ministries as well as all State Governments to do away with affidavits that have to be endorsed by gazetted officers. This system, which reeks of an unnecessarily suspicious state, has been the source of much public harassment. Just about every Indian, who is not related to a gazetted officer or is not fortuitous enough to live or work in the vicinity of one such high-ranking Government officer, has a story to tell about how much trouble he or she has had to undertake to get documents of a routine nature attested. The process is a colossal waste of time, energy and money. Moreover, it serves no significant purpose. Officers who sign the documents hardly care about authenticity — and to be fair, it's unrealistic to expect as much from them. Also, unscrupulous persons who use fake documents bypass the entire system with ease; it's the vast majority of honest folks who have to find their way through sarkari offices and notary publics. Indeed, the only persons who ‘benefit' from this process are those officers who charge money — mostly, to blindly put their stamp and signature on documents. Given this situation, it's rather astonishing that the system has continued for all these years. Nonetheless, it's better late than never.
The new system of self-attestation will also go a long way in encouraging the common man to take responsibility for his paperwork. Precisely because there is no other authority figure verifying his documents, the individual is culpable for any and all discrepancies. This also makes it easier for law enforcement agencies to penalise wrongdoers, as compared to the older system wherein prosecuting the notary public or the gazetted officer who had signed off on forged documents, apart from the individual, was too cumbersome a task. Critics (mostly within Government) who are still concerned that the move will lead to a proliferation of fake documents and certificates should take comfort from the fact that it has already been tried and tested in Punjab for the past five years. Prior to 2009, 65 per cent of the 2.2 million services offered at the Punjab Government's district centres related to affidavits. Two years later, affidavits constituted only 9.8 per cent of the service requests. Also, self-attestation is already allowed in some key areas — such as passport applications and income tax filings. There is no reason why it cannot be extended to cover almost all official documents.