Shivajirao Moghe on Friday announced that an online system to speed up verification and issuance of caste certificates will be initiated this month-end. This would enable issuance of the certificate within 10 days of applying for it. The minister said with the online system,pendency in Pune division 11,000 applications will be brought down to nil. The certificate is required during admission to schools and colleges for reserved seats,during elections for reserved seat candidates and for reserved categories to benefit from government schemes. He said the application procedure for caste certificates and verification is similar to the passport issuing system. The social justice ministry is scheduled to hire some people on contract to receive documents required for caste certificates and to process,verify and issue certificates. The online system will help citizens apply online and furnish scanned copies of documents required. According to the departments,if the documents are in order,the certificate will be issued. If there are any issues,the person would be asked to reach the designated office with original copies of documents for verification. Every district has a caste certificate verification committee,which verifies the certificate on the basis of documents submitted after establishing their authenticity.
