New Delhi, Oct. 23: Students applying for admission to central universities don’t have to go hunting for a gazetted officer any more. Nor do those competing for a seat in the IITs and the IIMs. They just need to submit self-attested documents.

The human resource development ministry has directed all institutions that come under it to accept self-attested copies of certificates from this academic year, in a change from a decades-old practice that often led to a last-minute scramble for the seal and signature of a government officer.

From now, original documents will be required for verification only at the final stage of admission.

Sources said the HRD ministry issued the directive after the ministry of personnel, public grievance and pension asked all ministries to adopt a provision for self-certification of documents for stakeholders or applicants for any public service.

Personnel ministry sources said the Second Administrative Reforms Commission, in its report “Citizen Centric Administration — The Heart of Governance”, had recommended adoption of such a provision, though it is not clear yet how many ministries have complied with the directive so far.

“The ministries are in various stages of implementing the order. Some, like the HRD ministry, have already implemented it,” said an official.

About time too, Apoorva would say. “I had to do a lot of running around two years ago when I applied for MA in Delhi University,” said the sociology student, who applied for MPhil in JNU this year, recalling the time she spent looking for a gazetted officer to attest photocopies of certificates. “For MPhil, it was very smooth. They didn’t ask for certificates to be attested by a gazetted officer.”

Apoorva had to just fill in the application form and submit self-attested photocopies of the documents asked for.

Professor Furqan Qamar, the vice-chancellor of Central University of Himachal Pradesh, said the new system would make admissions hassle-free, especially for students from rural backgrounds who find it more difficult to get documents attested. “It’s a good move. Now the responsibility lies with students to furnish genuine copies and substantiate them with original documents at the time of admission.”

Former Delhi University vice-chancellor Deepak Pental welcomed the step but cautioned against forgery. In the past three years, the varsity has come across 31 cases of admissions based on forged certificates. The admissions have since been cancelled and FIRs have been filed.

The vice-chancellor of Central University of Kashmir, Abdul Waheed, said the university had put in place a system of stringent scrutiny to verify at the time of admission itself if applications were genuine.

“In our university, we check the original certificates, signature and photograph of students while giving admission. There is very little chance of forgery,” he said.

The Indian Institutes of Technology and the Indian Institutes of Management have also strengthened their verification system to check fraud since two students got admission in IITs through forged certificates last year.