Name Change for Government Employees in Jharkhand
There is a special route for a Government servant, and almost everything said about it online is half right. The deed exists. The Government publishes it as the "DEED FOR CENTRAL GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEES FOR CHANGING NAME OR SURNAME", referring to O.M. No. 190016/1/87-Estt. dated 12th March 1987, and it is signed with an old signature and a new signature before two witnesses, each of whom must be a "Gazetted Officer of the same Department/Ministry". What is half right is the part people repeat most: that the deed means no gazette is needed. Read the instructions printed with the deed itself. They require "publication of the change in a prominent local newspaper as well as in the Gazette of India at the Govt. employee's own expense." As well as. At your own expense. The deed is an extra step for a Government servant, not a shortcut past the ordinary one.
First find out whether the deed route is even yours, because three kinds of employee get told it is and only one of them is right. The document is headed for Central Government employees, and the Department of Publication's guidelines put it the same way: "In case of individuals working with Central government, they may submit a Deed for change of name in accordance with Ministry of Home affairs O.M. 190016/1/87-Estt. dated 12/03/1987." Note the word may, which makes it permissive rather than compulsory even for those it covers. A Jharkhand State Government servant is not a Central Government servant, and a public sector or private company employee is not a Government servant at all. Then read what the deed commits you to, because it is stronger language than people expect. You "Wholly renounce, relinquish and abandon the use of my former name", you undertake to use the new name "in all records, deed and writing and in all proceedings", and you "authorize and request all persons at all times hereafter to designate and address me by such assumed name". And then you still publish, in a newspaper and in the Gazette of India, at your own expense. That last line is the one this page exists to correct, and we will tell you plainly further down that it happens to point towards our own service, so read the document yourself rather than taking our word.
Three Kinds of Employee Get Told About the Deed, and Only One Is Covered
This State is full of people whose employer looks governmental from the outside. The deed document names one group, and it names it in its own heading.
| Who you are | Whether the deed route is yours |
|---|---|
| A Central Government servant. A central ministry or department, central police organisations, income tax, railways as a department of Government, and the rest | Yes, and this page is written for you. The document is headed "DEED FOR CENTRAL GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEES FOR CHANGING NAME OR SURNAME", and the guidelines speak of "individuals working with Central government" |
| A Jharkhand State Government servant. A State department, a district office, a State school or college, the State police | Not this document, and we say so plainly. A State servant's service conditions come from the State, and the deed on this page is headed for Central Government employees. The section below sets out what we could and could not verify about the State route |
| A public sector or private company employee. Coal India and its subsidiaries, SAIL Bokaro, Tata Steel and the rest | Not a Government servant at all. You work for a company, and our steel employees page and our coal mines provident fund page deal with those records |
| And the word everybody skips, even where the deed does apply | May. The guidelines say such individuals "may submit a Deed". Permissive, not compulsory. Anybody telling a Central Government servant that the deed is mandatory has not read the sentence |
| Why getting this wrong costs a fortnight | A State employee who prepares a Central deed, or a company employee who does, arrives with the wrong instrument and starts again. Ten minutes deciding which of the three you are is the best spent time on this page |
| And one thing that is the same for all three | Your employer's own record has to be amended whoever you work for, and that is a written request to your own establishment or administration section with a dated acknowledgement. No notification does that by itself |
What the Government Employee Deed Actually Says, Clause by Clause
It is a short document and it is written in old fashioned language, which is exactly why people sign it without reading it. Here is what each part of it commits you to.
| What the deed says | What it means |
|---|---|
| You "Wholly renounce, relinquish and abandon the use of my former name" and assume the new one | Three verbs, and they are not decorative. This is a complete abandonment of the old name, not an addition of a second one. If what you actually want is an alias, this is the wrong instrument and our alias name page covers that |
| You undertake to use the new name "in all records, deed and writing and in all proceedings" | All records. Which is a promise about every document you hold, not only your service book. That is a much larger undertaking than most people realise when they sign |
| You "authorize and request all persons at all times hereafter to designate and address me by such assumed name" | The formal request to the world. It is the sentence that makes the deed a public instrument rather than a private note to your employer |
| It carries an old signature and a new signature | Both, on the same page. Practise the new signature before you sign the deed, because it is now the one that has to appear consistently on everything afterwards |
| It is witnessed by two witnesses, each a "Gazetted Officer of the same Department/Ministry" | Not any two gazetted officers. Of the same department or ministry as you, which is dealt with in its own section below because it is the condition people get wrong |
| And it names its authority | "O.M. No.-190016/1/87-Estt. Dated 12th March, 1987", stated on the document as being from the Department of Personnel and Training and as superseding earlier orders |
The Deed Sits Beside the Gazette, Not Instead of It
We are going to do something on this page that we have not had to do on any other. The verified fact here happens to point towards our own service, and rather than let you discover that afterwards, we are saying it first and then showing you the document so you can check us.
What the instructions with the deed actually require
Following execution of the deed, the employee is to arrange "publication of the change in a prominent local newspaper as well as in the Gazette of India at the Govt. employee's own expense." As well as. Not instead of, and not either or.
So there are two publications, not none
A prominent local newspaper, and the Gazette of India. A Government servant does more than an ordinary applicant, not less, which is the opposite of how the route is usually described.
And the cost is expressly the employee's
"at the Govt. employee's own expense." Your department executes nothing on your behalf and pays for nothing. Budget for the deed, the newspaper and the gazette charge together rather than discovering the third one late.
Here is our own interest, stated plainly
We are a gazette filing desk. A rule that requires a Government servant to publish in the Gazette of India is a rule that sends work to people like us. On every other page of this website we tell readers when a gazette is unnecessary, and we do it often. On this one the document says the opposite, so read the document. It is linked at the foot of this page.
Why the myth exists at all
Because the deed is unusual and memorable, and because a departmental circular telling staff to execute a deed is easier to remember than a line about publication underneath it. The deed is the distinctive part. The publication is the part that gets dropped in the retelling.
And what still has to happen afterwards
The service book entry. A deed and a published notice are evidence; somebody in your own administration section still has to act on them, on a written request, and you should take a dated acknowledgement for it.
Two Gazetted Officers of Your Own Department, and Nowhere Else
This is the rule that has escaped from its own document and gone wandering across the internet, where it now appears on pages about ordinary affidavits and ordinary gazette files. It belongs to this deed and to nothing else.
| The position | What it means in practice |
|---|---|
| The deed requires two witnesses, each described as a "Gazetted Officer of the same Department/Ministry" | Two conditions in one phrase. Gazetted rank, and your own department or ministry. A gazetted officer from another department is not what the document asks for |
| Why that second condition exists | Because the witnesses are vouching for a colleague whose service record is about to be amended. They are people who can actually say who you are at work, which a stranger of the same rank cannot |
| Where this rule does not apply | An ordinary Central Gazette file by a private citizen. That proforma asks for two witnesses with signature, full name, address and mobile number, and says nothing about gazetted rank. Our proforma format page sets out what the ordinary form actually requires |
| And it does not apply to an affidavit either | A name change affidavit is sworn before a magistrate or a notary. Nobody has ever needed two gazetted officers for one, and being told otherwise is a sign the person advising you has read a Government employee page and applied it to everybody |
| The practical difficulty it creates | In a small district office there may be very few gazetted officers, and they are busy. Ask early and ask both at once, because chasing two signatures one at a time across a fortnight is the commonest delay on this route |
| What to carry when you ask them | The completed deed, your identity papers and a one line explanation. A gazetted officer signing as a witness is taking a small responsibility, so make it easy to say yes by arriving with everything ready |
A Jharkhand State Government Servant, and What We Could Not Verify
A very large number of the people who read this page work for the Government of Jharkhand rather than for the Union. We would rather tell you where our research stopped than write a confident paragraph we cannot support.
| The position | Our note |
|---|---|
| The deed document is headed for Central Government employees, and the guidelines speak of "individuals working with Central government" | Verified. So we are not going to tell a State employee that the Central deed is his route, and we are not going to tell him that it is not accepted either |
| Service rules for State officers are administered by the Department of Personnel, Administrative Reforms and Rajbhasha, whose headquarters is at Project Building, Dhurwa, Ranchi | Taken from a reference work rather than from a Government circular, and we label it as such. It tells you which department the question belongs to, which is the useful part |
| Whether Jharkhand has issued its own circular on a change of name by a State employee | We could not verify one while writing this page. The State department's own site would not open for us. So we print no State circular number, no State form and no State timeline |
| What we would actually do in a State employee's place | Ask your own administration section, in writing, what the State requires, and keep the reply. That single written question is worth more than any list on any website, and it costs a sheet of paper |
| What is almost certainly the same either way | The service book entry has to be made by your own office on a written request, and the ordinary Central Gazette route for an adult is available to any citizen. Neither of those depends on a State circular existing |
| And the practical suggestion | Prepare the ordinary adult file, and ask the department in the same week whether it also requires a deed in the Central format. The two can run together and the answer costs you nothing to obtain |
How a Government Employee Should Change a Name, Step by Step
Establish which kind of employee you are
Central Government servant, Jharkhand State Government servant, or a company employee. Who issues your appointment order and frames your service rules is the question that answers it. Ten minutes here saves a fortnight later.
Ask your administration section in writing what is required
Whether a deed is to be executed, whether publication is required, and what the service book entry needs. Ask before you spend anything, because the answer decides how many documents you are making.
Settle the new name letter by letter first
Spacing included. The deed has you renounce the old name wholly, and a corrigendum afterwards is a second fee and a second wait. Our corrigendum page explains why that is worth avoiding.
Check your own records agree before you start
Service book, Aadhaar, school certificate and bank. If they already disagree with each other, fix that first, because a change of name on top of an existing mismatch produces two problems instead of one. Our spelling correction page covers the ordinary route.
Line up both gazetted officers before you fill anything in
Both from your own department or ministry, and ask them together rather than one at a time. This is the step that quietly costs the most days on the whole route.
Execute the deed, with the old and the new signature
Practise the new signature first, because it now has to appear consistently on everything for the rest of your service. Keep the original and give copies, never the other way round.
Then publish in a prominent local newspaper
Because the instructions say the newspaper as well as the Gazette of India. Keep the whole original paper, not a cutting, because the gazette file wants it that way too. Our newspaper page covers the papers read in this State.
Then make the Gazette of India file
The full process is set out below. The proforma asks for your post and office or company name, which a serving employee should complete rather than leave blank. The charge is yours, as the instructions state expressly.
Then the written request for the service book entry
With the deed, the newspaper and the published notification attached. Take a dated acknowledgement, because the people who read your service book at your pension will not be the people who amended it.
Then everything outside the office, in one round
The Aadhaar, the PAN, the bank, and your pension records. Your department updates none of these for you.
Keep the whole file for the rest of your service and beyond
The deed, the newspaper, the gazette copy and every acknowledgement. This file will be read at your retirement and possibly by your family after that, and by then nobody involved will still be in the office.
Central Gazette Process for a Name From Jharkhand, and Where It Fits a Government Servant
No district in Jharkhand has a gazette counter, so a genuine file goes from Ranchi, Jamshedpur, Dhanbad, Bokaro, Hazaribagh, Deoghar or anywhere else in the state to the Department of Publication, Civil Lines, Delhi 110054, and the notice publishes in Part IV of the Gazette of India. As reported in July 2025 the Finance Department stopped personal name change notifications from the Jharkhand Government Press with immediate effect, so there is no state alternative to fall back on.
The Eight Steps of a Name File Sent From Jharkhand
Settle the final name first
Letter by letter, with the spacing you want, and then use exactly that everywhere, Aadhaar included. A corrigendum after publication is a second fee and a second wait.
Pick the category, then its proforma
A genuine change of name is change of Name Adult or Major. A wrongly typed spelling is the public notice for a wrongly written name. Twelve categories exist and only one is yours.
Type the proforma in duplicate
Two originals with two witnesses giving signature, full name, address and mobile number on both copies. A change of name is signed in the old name; a public notice is signed in your own name.
Fill the employment field if it is a change of name
The adult proforma asks for the post of the applicant and the office or company name. A student or a homemaker should still complete it rather than leaving it blank, because a blank field brings the file back.
Publish and keep the original paper
One of the daily local leading newspapers, carrying both names in full, the father or husband name and the residential address. The whole original paper goes in the file, not a cutting.
Pay only through BharatKosh
The Non Tax Receipt Portal and nowhere else since October 2018. Select the Department of Publication by name, read the amount the portal shows on the day, pay in your own name and print the e-receipt.
Check every date, then post it yourself
Nothing in the file older than one year. Personally or by post or courier only, never through an agent or advocate. Photocopy everything first, because nothing sent in comes back.
Read the notice, then update in the right order
Check every word the day it publishes, download the e-Gazette copy, and then make the written request for the service book entry first, with the deed and the newspaper attached, because that is the record your pension is eventually calculated from, and let the Aadhaar, the PAN, the bank and the rest follow after it.
The Five Papers in the File, and What Is Checked in Each
| The paper | What is checked in it, clause by clause |
|---|---|
| 1. The proforma, in duplicate | That it is the right category format; the existing full name exactly as your documents carry it; the new full name exactly as settled; the father or husband name; the full address with pin code; the post and office or company name where it is a change of name; the signature in the right name for the category; two witnesses complete with signature, full name, address and mobile number |
| 2. The affidavit or undertaking | The same names and address as the proforma, word for word, with wording matching the category. On Rs 100 non-judicial stamp paper as our safe default |
| 3. The original newspaper | The original paper, not a cutting; the paper name and date of publication visible; both names carried; the father or husband name and residential address; dated within the last year |
| 4. Photographs, identity proof and any category paper | Two self attested passport photographs; self attested identity and address proof matching the proforma address; both witnesses proofs; and, in a public notice file, the attested photocopy of the connected document carrying the error |
| 5. The CD, its certificate and the BharatKosh receipt | MS Word, without the witness portion, with the name typed in place of the signature; the certificate that the hard copy and the soft copy are the same; the forwarding letter to the Controller of Publication with a telephone number and email; the e-receipt |
The posting detail is on the sending the file to Delhi page, the change of name wording on the proforma format page and the public notice wording on the public notice proforma page, the charge by category on the fee and undertaking page, the reasons files come back on the rejection reasons page, and the download on the download page.
What a Government Employee Name Change Costs in Jharkhand
On this page the costs are higher than on most, and we want to be exact about why, because the reason is printed in the Government's own instructions rather than invented by us.
| Item | What we can and cannot tell you |
|---|---|
| Who pays for all of it | You do, and the instructions say so in terms: "at the Govt. employee's own expense." Your department executes nothing on your behalf and reimburses nothing. Budget for the whole route at once |
| The deed itself | The published deed we read states no stamp paper requirement, and typing and printing cost almost nothing. The expensive part of this step is time, not money, because it waits on two gazetted officers |
| The newspaper publication | A prominent local newspaper, as the instructions require. A real cost and a modest one. Our newspaper page covers the papers read in Jharkhand and the wording |
| The Gazette of India charge | Paid only through BharatKosh, revised each financial year and non refundable, so read the amount on the portal on the day. Our name change cost page keeps the working figures |
| The service book entry | We print no figure and expect none. It is an internal departmental act on a written request. If anybody asks you for money for it, ask for the demand in writing |
| Our charge | Quoted on the call, after we have seen your papers, and never before we have told you whether you need us at all |
Myths About the Government Employee Name Change Route
| What Government employees are told | What is actually so |
|---|---|
| A Government servant does the deed instead of the gazette | The instructions with the deed say the opposite. They require "publication of the change in a prominent local newspaper as well as in the Gazette of India at the Govt. employee's own expense." As well as, and at your own cost |
| The deed applies to everybody in a Government job | The document is headed "DEED FOR CENTRAL GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEES" and the guidelines speak of "individuals working with Central government". A State servant and a company employee are not that |
| The deed is compulsory | The guidelines say such individuals "may submit a Deed". Permissive, not mandatory, even for those it covers. Ask your own department what it requires rather than assuming |
| Any two gazetted officers can witness it | Not what the deed says. Each witness must be a "Gazetted Officer of the same Department/Ministry". Your own department, not merely the right rank |
| Everybody needs two gazetted officers for a name change | The single most misapplied rule in this whole subject. It belongs to this deed alone. An ordinary gazette file asks for two witnesses with name, address and mobile number, and an affidavit is sworn before a magistrate or notary |
| The department will publish it for me | It will not. "At the Govt. employee's own expense" means you arrange the newspaper and the gazette file and you pay for both |
| The gazette notification updates my service book | It does not. It is evidence, not the amendment. Somebody in your administration section still has to act on a written request, and you should take a dated acknowledgement for it |
| The deed just adds a new name alongside the old one | Read it. You "Wholly renounce, relinquish and abandon the use of my former name". That is a complete abandonment, and if you want an alias instead this is the wrong instrument |
| My spelling is wrong in the service book, so I need all of this | Probably not. A wrong spelling where nothing was ever changed is a correction, and a written request with your consistent documents is the whole job. No deed, no newspaper, no gazette |
| A State employee can just use the Central deed | We do not know, and we say so. The document is headed for Central Government employees and we could not verify a Jharkhand circular. Ask your own administration section in writing and keep the reply |
Key Terms in a Government Employee Name Change
| Term | What it means in practice |
|---|---|
| The deed | The "DEED FOR CENTRAL GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEES FOR CHANGING NAME OR SURNAME". A short instrument with an old signature, a new signature and two departmental witnesses |
| O.M. 190016/1/87-Estt. | The Office Memorandum of 12 March 1987 the deed rests on. Cite it by number and date, because official sources attribute it to different departments |
| Gazetted officer | An officer of a rank whose appointment is notified in the gazette. For this deed, one of your own department or ministry, which is the part people miss |
| Renounce, relinquish and abandon | The deed's own words for giving up the former name. Complete abandonment, not an addition, which matters if what you wanted was an alias |
| Service book | Your employer's own record of your service. The record everything in your career and your pension is eventually read from, and the one a notification does not amend by itself |
| At the employee's own expense | The instructions' own phrase. The newspaper and the Gazette of India are both yours to arrange and to pay for |
| Prominent local newspaper | What the instructions require alongside the Gazette. Keep the whole original paper, not a cutting, because the gazette file wants it that way too |
| Gazette of India | Where a personal name notice publishes in Part IV. Required here rather than optional, which is the opposite of most pages on this website |
| Central Government servant | Somebody whose appointment and service rules come from the Union. The group the deed is headed for |
| State Government servant | Somebody whose service rules come from the Government of Jharkhand. A different framework, and one we could not verify a circular for |
| Administration or establishment section | The office inside your department that holds service books. Where the written request belongs and where the dated acknowledgement comes from |
| Correction against change | A wrong spelling nobody ever changed is a correction, and needs none of this. A genuine change of name is a change, and needs the route on this page |
Government Employee Name Change Help Across Jharkhand
Ranchi holds the State secretariat and a large concentration of central offices, and every district in this State has both kinds of employee working a few streets apart being told the same thing. What we do begins before any of it. We read the service book page against your other documents, tell you whether this is a correction your own section can make on a written request or a genuine change of name, tell you which of the three kinds of employee you are and therefore whether the deed is yours at all, draft the written question to your administration section, prepare the deed and the newspaper wording where they apply, and make the Gazette of India file. Where the answer is a correction and one letter, we will say so and charge you nothing. We work across Ranchi, Dumka, Hazaribagh, Medininagar and every other district, on scans over WhatsApp.
District pages are linked from the services page.
Send the service book page and your papers
Send the page of your service book carrying your name if you can get a copy, because that is the record everything else has to match. If your section will not give you one yet, send a pay slip and your identity card meanwhile. Then your Aadhaar, your school certificate, and your bank passbook page. Tell us in one line what has happened: a spelling is wrong, you are genuinely changing your name, your section has asked for a deed, or somebody has told you no gazette is needed. Say whether you are Central Government, Jharkhand State Government or a public sector company, because that decides the whole route. Our first reply tells you which of the three you are, whether this is a correction or a real change of name, whether the deed applies to you, and the written question to send your administration section. If the answer is a correction and one letter, we will tell you that and charge nothing. Details on the contact page.
- 📞Call 9540005002
Monday to Saturday, 9 AM to 6 PM - WhatsApp 9540005064
Send your scans here, it is the fastest way - ✉️info@jharkhandnamechange.com
- 📍Ranchi office: Main Building, Near Shaheed Chowk, Ranchi, Jharkhand 834001
- 🏛️Head office (Gazette filing desk): Metro Pillar No. 377, Near Burari Metro Station, Shop No. B-1, Ground Floor, Gali No. 1, Khasra No. 31/12, Hardev Nagar, Jharoda Majra, Burari, Delhi 110084
Government Employee Name Change: Frequently Asked Questions
Does the deed mean I do not need a gazette notification?
I work for the Jharkhand Government. Is the deed mine?
Can any two gazetted officers witness the deed?
I was told everyone needs two gazetted officers. Is that true?
Is the deed compulsory for a Central Government servant?
Does the deed need stamp paper?
Whose Office Memorandum is it, Home Affairs or Personnel and Training?
Will the gazette notification change my service book?
My name is only spelt wrongly. Do I need all of this?
I only want to add a second name, not give up the old one.
What about my pension records and everything outside the office?
How much of this can you actually do for us?
Official Sources on the Government Employee Name Change
- The deed for Central Government employees, in fullThe document itself, for the clauses, the old and new signatures, the two gazetted officer witnesses of the same department, and the sentence requiring publication in a newspaper as well as in the Gazette of India at the employee's own expense. Read that sentence yourself rather than taking ours.
- Department of Publication: guidelines for change of name for an adultThe source of the sentence about individuals working with Central government and the word may, and the document list for an ordinary adult file.
- Department of PublicationThe office that publishes personal name notices in Part IV of the Gazette of India, and where the current proformas and guidelines are issued.
- Department of Personnel and TrainingThe department the deed document names as the source of the Office Memorandum, and the place to look for establishment instructions affecting Central Government servants.
- Ministry of Home AffairsThe ministry the Department of Publication's guidelines name for the same Office Memorandum. Both attributions appear in official documents, which is why the page cites it by number and date.
- Government of JharkhandFor a State Government employee, the starting point for finding the department and the service rules that actually apply, since the Central deed is headed for Central Government employees.
- e-GazetteWhere a published notice is read and the free copy downloaded, which is the copy your administration section will want attached to the request.
- BharatKosh, the Non Tax Receipt PortalThe only route for the Government printing charge since October 2018, and the only place the amount of the day can be read, because it is revised each financial year.
- Unique Identification Authority of IndiaFor the Aadhaar name update, one of the records your department will not update for you.
- India CodeThe Government's repository of central Acts and rules, for the wider service and conduct framework a Government servant works under.
A Government Employee Name Change in Eight Lines
The short version
- The deed is headed for Central Government employees only.
- The guidelines say may, so it is permissive even for them.
- Both witnesses must be gazetted officers of your own department.
- That rule belongs to this deed and to nothing else.
- The deed does not replace the gazette, it sits beside it.
- A newspaper and the Gazette of India, at your own expense.
- None of it amends the service book without a written request.
- A wrong spelling is a correction and needs none of this.
Send us the service book page and tell us who issues your appointment order.
Central Government, Jharkhand State Government or a public sector company. If the answer is a correction and one letter to your own section, we will say so and charge you nothing.