Students from IIT, IIM can self-attest documents

Students aspiring for admission to IITs, IIMs or central universities need not scout for a gazetted officer anymore to get copies of their certificates attested as the Human Resource Development (HRD) Ministry has asked institutes under it to accept self-attested documents.

The move which brings to an end the age-old practice and provides a much needed relief to students, has come into effect from this session, ministry officials said.
The original documents will have to be produced only at the time of admission, they said.

The development comes in wake of a directive from the Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pension which had asked various ministries and departments to examine the proposal.

Terming the method as “citizen friendly”, it said “obtaining either an attested copy or affidavit not only costs money but also involves wastage of time of the citizens and the government officials”.

In fact, the Second Administrative Reforms Commission in its 12th report titled ‘Citizen Centric Administration’ — the Heart Of Governance’, had recommended adoption of self-certification provision for simplifying procedures.

Students especially in rural areas stand to immensely benefit from it along with those who face difficulty in finding an officer to get the photo copies of their certificates attested.