The State government has taken up a project to issue caste and income certificates at the school level. The project is expected to check the menace of false certificates and ensure that students are not put to hardship in obtaining the records.
Revenue Minister V. Srinivas Prasad told presspersons here on Saturday that the project would help avoid delays and corruption. Besides, it would also save parents in rural areas from visiting taluk offices for the certificates.
The process of collecting applications for the certificates from over 60 lakh students took off in December and 54 per cent of the field work had been completed, he said.
Under the project, caste and income certificates would be processed online after receiving applications from students with the supporting documents. The certificates would be laminated and distributed at the respective schools free of cost, he said.
V. Ponnuraj, Commissioner, Department of Survey Settlement and Land Records, explained that the process of issuing the certificates in schools, which was delayed because of the Lok Sabha elections, would be completed by June 15. Students could use the certificates for all educational purposes in future, he said.
He said principal secretaries of the Revenue and Education departments issued a joint circular in December stating that students could apply for and get caste and income certificates in their respective schools. “Because of the delay [in issuing the records], we have asked the Education Department to extend the last date for admissions in government schools. Based on the success of this project in schools, we will extend it to colleges,” he said.
A similar approach had been adopted to issue 34 certificates (including caste and income records), which farmers were getting through Nada Kacheris till now. This online system would simplify the process of obtaining the certificates,
Mr. Ponnuraj said. “Applicants will be issued a code number through short message service (SMS) which they can use wherever they have to submit a certificate. The department concerned (where the applicant needs to submit a certificate) will verify the code with our database and proceed with the service. This system will become fully functional in one year,” Mr. Ponnuraj said.
The online distribution of these certificates to farmers and students would eliminate the hardship the beneficiaries face at government offices. While this would make the offices paperless, it would also reduce the time taken for the delivery of these services and cut down the workload of officials. Most importantly, it would help check the menace of false certificates, he said.
