Centre scraps affidavits, Punjab claims credit

Chandigarh, July 29 (IANS) The central government has asked states to do away with affidavits for government-related work and promote self-attestation of documents.

Punjab Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal claimed Tuesday that the centre's directive was taken from the abolition of affidavits introduced in Punjab earlier under its administrative reforms programme.

Badal said the Punjab government had earlier implemented reforms by abolishing seeking of affidavits in all cases, except where there was statutory requirement.

"On the recommendations of Punjab Governance Reforms Commission (PGRC), the state government has done away with all affidavits for 89 services that were 'local inventions' and sought from citizens," a Punjab government spokesman here said.

"Instead of seeking affidavits, three specimens of self-declaration were furnished for getting services from government departments, local bodies and autonomous institutions," the official added.

He said the sweeping reform has resulted in annual savings of Rs.600 crore in Punjab, including monitoring cost of getting the affidavit, its attestation and loss of productivity and wages.

"This initiative has been short-listed for the Prime Minister's awards for excellence in public administration for 2012-14," the spokesman said.