Taking the lead in carrying through a major promise of the Central government to ease citizen-government interface, the Tamil Nadu government has decided to do away with attestation of certificates by its officers.

Instead, it will provide for self-attestation.

Citizens should produce the originals at the time of interview for, or appointment, to any post, says an order from the Personnel and Administrative Reforms Department.

The current practice of candidates seeking attestation from the Group A and Group B officers results in waste of time of both citizens and officers, the order says.

As the original documents must be submitted during the interview, attestation by gazetted officers does not solve any problem, it points out.

Now, students and job-seekers spend anywhere between Rs.200 and Rs.500 to get a notarised affidavit.