Doha, Jul 23 (Gulf Times): The business of attestation of Indian certificates’ originals, especially education related documents, is booming, thanks to the insistence of local offices to get them attested in the country of applicant’s origin.

As a result, hapless customers are forced to part with huge sums of money for a job, which otherwise could have been done for paltry fee back home.

Inquiries made to the offices of agents, who claim to be the “authorised” representatives of departments concerned in India found that they did not have uniform rates and each charges different fees for the same work undertaken, mostly at short notice.
Most agents charge between QR350 and QR500 per certificate and sometimes even more for undertaking attestation in India.
While inquiries with government departments in India found that no one is authorised by government departments for such attestation, each of the agency claims itself as an “authorised” agent through newspapers published in India.

Interestingly, two months ago when two senior officials of the Ministry of Overseas Indians Affairs (MOIA) were hosted at a gathering organised at Indian Cultural Centre, surprisingly none of those present bothered to raise the issue while some of the participants were keen on raking up matters which had absolutely nothing to do with the MOIA.

Though some of the aggrieved customers brought the issue to the attention of the Indian embassy sometime ago, nothing could be done until now to find a solution to the problem. “Yesterday when I enquired at an office for attesting the degree certificate of my wife prior to her applying for a labour card, an agent asked me QR500” as fee,” said an agitated Balram (not the real name).
At the same time, inquiries at another office found that agent could get it done at QR400, he said, adding that even that rate was far from being affordable for commoners like me.

Inquiries at the embassy found that the situation arose owing to the submission of false documents at some of the country’s institutions in the past.

There have also been incidents of even documents attested back home by some candidates prior to their applying for jobs being refused to be accepted, inquiries found.

Community members feel that the issue should be highlighted at appropriate levels by the Indian mission in Qatar.
Some time ago, one of its officials had promised action on the issue even though nothing has come through even after several months. If the employers give a “reasonable” period for candidates for submitting original attested documents, a permanent solution to the issue is not too far to be found, said a senior member of the community.