Self-declaration first, certificates later! Kerala govt move a welcome relief

Self-declaration first, certificates later! Kerala govt move a welcome relief
Representational image: Shutterstock/Chokniti Khongchum

Thiruvananthapuram: The State Government has decided to do away with the system of asking certificates from the public for each and everything. Now onwards, the self-declaration of applicants will be enough.

The decision was taken by the government by acting on the basis of the fifth report of the Administrative Reforms Commission (ARC) which was headed by former Chief Minister V S Achuthanandan.

Accordingly, the Kerala Public Service Commission should not ask for certificates at the time of inviting applications for jobs or conducting competitive examinations.

A meeting of the Government Secretaries called by the State Chief Secretary decided that certificates could be asked at the time of selection or when an applicant is shortlisted.

ARC behind rationalisation bid

The meeting also urged various departments to restrict the number of certificates issued. First of all, a list of certificates issued by each department should be prepared. Then the certificate-issuing department and the certificate-receiving department should interact with each other and reach a consensus on certificates to be avoided.

The ARC will coordinate the work with various departments to make the new reforms a success.

Certificates can be issued only after ensuring that it should be kept safe in DigiLocker. The meeting also suggested that steps be taken to link the certificate issuing facility of each department with the PSC and other recruitment boards so that the authenticity of certificates can be easily checked.

Instead of insisting on officially attested copies of original certificates, the self-attested copies can be entertained along with applications, the meeting suggested.

PRO in police station

The high-level meeting also directed the State Home Ministry to post a public relations officer (PRO) in each police station and give a separate room or chair for him at the front portion of the police station building.

The PRO should be a senior police personnel working in the police station. The duty time for the PRO is 8am to 8pm He should be divested of all other responsibilities.

When the PRO is on leave, other police personnel at the police station should be posted on rotation-basis. All other police personnel should be trained in PRO work in order to equip them to take up this responsibility.

IT expert to help public for online services

Every police station should have a person to do the Information Technology (IT)-related work to help the public use online services. Such personnel should not be given any other work. They should be given training from time to time to keep up with the rapid technological changes happening around.

A separate Human Resources (HR) wing will be launched in the State Police to analyse the skills of each police personnel. The postings of the police personnel will be made based on these inputs.

It will also ensure that all personnel are posted to work in the Police, Crime Branch, Vigilance and the Special Branch for a fixed tenure. This is being done to increase efficiency and to end corruption and vested interests.

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