Kerala govt to simplify procedures for issuing certificates

thiruvananthapuram: in a people friendly move, the kerala government has decided to simplify the procedures for issuing certificates and providing services and also waived the application fees for the same.  the chief minister's office, in a release on thursday, said the decisions were taken by the cabinet which also suggested simplification of the application forms.the application fee for business and commercial purposes will continue, it said and added that steps were being taken to make government services available online as much as possible.detailing the cabinet decision, the cmo release said certificates once issued can also be used for other government offices and they would be valid for atleast one year. also, the certificate will no longer state that the certificate is issued for a specific purpose or use only.besides that self attestation of copies of documents and certificates was sufficient to avail various government services, it said.another direction, which would be appreciated by the general public was that applications received online for issuing nativity or minority certificates have to be decided within five days of receiving the same. however, one need not apply for a minority or caste certificate if religion or caste is recorded in the applicant's sslc book, the release said.as replacement for an inter-caste marriage certificate, caste recorded in educational records and marriage certificate by the sub-registrar or a local body along with an affidavit of the couple would be sufficient, it said.for life certificates, one can use the biometric digital system 'jeevan praman' introduced by the central government for pensioners, it said and added that the facility was available at kerala treasury and various banks."a certificate of relationship issued by the village officer or tehsildar is not required if the relationship is accurately recorded in any of the documents like ration card, school certificate, passport, aadhaar and birth certificate," it said.it also said that job seekers going abroad would be given the facility to upload certificates online for certification by the home department and for this, login facilities would be provided to the universities, examination halls, higher secondary sections and the local government department.an officer not below the rank of deputy collector shall be appointed for this purpose in the districts.