New Delhi: With numerous reforms being introduced in theeducation sector, Human Resource Development (HRD) minister, Kapil Sibal has come up with yet another major reform. This time, he has made the declaration of establishing of a national database of academic qualifications (degree/certificates from school to graduate/postgraduate level including professional degrees), which is to be created and maintained in an electronic format by an identified, registered depository.
Mr Sibal said that what is envisaged is a shift from the current practice, through de-materialization of certificates, to a technology-based solution that would ensure confidentiality, authenticity and fidelity, enabling online verification and easy retrieval of academic qualifications. As per sources, presently, two Depositories, National Securities Depository Limited (NSDL) and Central Depository Services (India) Limited (CDSL) are registered with the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI). Further he added that this system could also eliminate deceitful practices such as forging of certificates and mark sheets, through facilitating online verification for which the Ministry has constituted a Task Force under Prof. Sanjay Dhande, Director, Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Kanpur.
The other members of the Task Force shall include Prof. Debashis Chatterjee, Director, Indian Institute of Management- Kozhikode (IIM-K), Prof. S.S.Mantha, Chairman, All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE), Prof. Ved Prakash, Vice-Chairman, University Grants Commission (UGC), Vineet Joshi, Chairman, Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE), a nominee of the Department of Financial Services not below the rank of Joint Secretary to the Government of India, the Additional Secretary and Financial Advisor (AS&FA), Ministry of Human Resource Development or his nominee from the Finance wing of the Ministry and a nominee of the Planning Commission. The Joint Secretary (Higher Education) of the Ministry of HRD shall act as the Convener of the Task Force.
