Gujarat introduces ‘Universal Affidavit’ to end multiple documentation requirements for citizens

Gandhinagar, June 1 (SocialNews.XYZ) The Gujarat government on Monday introduced a statewide "Universal Affidavit" that will be accepted across government offices and service centres, bringing an end to the requirement for citizens to submit different affidavits with varying formats while applying for public services, certificates and government schemes.

The decision was announced by the Law Department as part of an administrative reform aimed at simplifying access to government services and reducing procedural delays.

The move has been taken under the state government's efforts to make citizen services more accessible, transparent and uniform.

According to the government, the new Universal Affidavit will be applicable in all cases where an affidavit is required under existing laws or rules but no specific format has been prescribed.

In such instances, a single standardised affidavit format will now be recognised and accepted throughout Gujarat.

Until now, applicants seeking various citizen-centric services, certificates and benefits under different government schemes often had to submit affidavits drafted in different formats depending on the department concerned.

The government noted that these variations in documentation created unnecessary complexity, consumed citizens' time and frequently resulted in delays in administrative processes.

To address these issues, the Law Department has issued a standardised format for the Universal Affidavit, which will be mandatorily accepted by all government offices, service centres and authorities operating at the district, taluka, rural and urban levels across the state.

The government said, "Henceforth, for services where an affidavit is required under law or rules but no specific format has been prescribed, this single standard format will be accepted across the entire state."

The reform will also extend to digital service delivery platforms. The Universal Affidavit will be implemented on the Digital Gujarat portal as well as at Jan Seva Kendras, ensuring that citizens applying online can use the same affidavit format across departments and services.

Clarifying the scope of the decision, the government stated that services for which no legal requirement exists to submit an affidavit will continue to follow the existing self-declaration system.

"For services where there is no legal requirement to submit an affidavit, the simplified process of submitting only a self-declaration in place of an affidavit, as prescribed under the General Administration Department's resolution, will continue unchanged," it said, adding that affidavits have not been made mandatory in such cases.

The Law Department has prepared the official Universal Affidavit format in both Gujarati and English to ensure ease of use and accessibility for citizens across the state.

Officials said the measure is intended to remove unnecessary procedural hurdles, bring uniformity to documentation requirements and make government services easier to access through a common affidavit format recognised across Gujarat.

Source: IANS