NEW DELHI: Starting December 1, affidavits and notary-attested documents
will not be necessary for many Delhi government services. Certificates
of caste, domicile, income, disability, etc will be issued promptly, the
government claims. For instance, certificates with a 60-day waiting
time will now be delivered online within two weeks.
While
the government will accept self-attested documents, those making false
declarations will be punished severely. The government wants the offence
made cognizable (an accused will be arrested). The format for
self-attestation will be notified after the cabinet approves it.
"The
government will table the proposal for the new timelines and the
self-declaration process in the next cabinet meeting," Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal
said on Saturday, adding that strict provisions will be introduced in
the law to punish those who give false information in their
applications.
The proposed amendments will be tabled in
the assembly in the winter session that starts on Wednesday, November
18. Through the proposed amendments, the government wants to increase
the jail term for false declaration beyond the present limit of six
months and the fine to more than Rs 1,000. A senior officer said the
Delhi government will propose amendments in sections 177 and 199 of IPC.
The subject is on the concurrent list for lawmaking, so the state
government can introduce amendments to make false declaration a
cognizable offence in Delhi, he added.
The 12
certificates issued through the online e-district platform without
affidavits and field verifications include those for OBC, SC/ST,
domicile, disability, income, solvency, surviving, death order, marriage
registration, birth order and lal dora. Only verifications that are
necessary or required mandatorily will be carried out.
Kejriwal cited an example to reinforce the point. "At present, for getting an OBC
certificate, an applicant has to give proof of verification in Delhi,
but from December 1, no proof will be required if a certificate has been
issued to any relative from the parental side."
Kejriwal highlighted the procedures for getting SC
and OBC certificates in which no attestation from any gazetted officer
or MP/MLA will be required. Instead, self-attestation will be enough.
On
how the government will check fraud and fake certificate rackets in the
online system, Kejriwal said, "The data will be available online and
will be accessible by the public to challenge and question. Also, since
the onus is on the applicant, unlike earlier, people will know that, if
caught, they alone are accountable."
He pointed out that
by weeding out affidavits and field checks, which are often an eyewash
and a source of corruption, the government is attempting to create a
cleaner system through self-declaration where the form clearly tells the
applicant the responsibility they are taking up.
The
government has also proposed to reduce the delivery period for these 12
services. At present, there is a 60-day wait for OBC certificates and SC
certificates, but the government has proposed to introduce a 14-day
timeline for these services.
For birth and death orders, the duration will also be reduced from the existing 30 days
to 14 days. The new duration for domicile certificates will be 14 days.
Similarly, the government will change the waiting time for income
certificates from 21 days to 14 days. The government has also decided to
issue lal dora certificates within two weeks.
