Human Resource Development Ministry sets agenda for 2014 Budget Session

NEW DELHI: The human resource development ministry has set out its agenda for the budget session of Parliament — ensure that students graduating from IIIT Kancheepuram, SPA Bhopal and SPA Vijaywada get degrees, lay the legislative framework for the Mahatma Gandhi Central University in Motihari, as well as a central university in Telangana, and set up a national database of academic awards (degrees and diplomas) in electronic format, which can be verified and authenticated.

All three efforts would require Parliament to pass legislation. Officials said that work was under way on the proposed items of legislation and Cabinet approval would be taken soon.

The National Academic Depository Bill had been introduced by the UPA government in 2011. However, it was not passed by Parliament and lapsed when the 15th Lok Sabha was dissolved.

The Bill makes it mandatory for all institutions—universities, colleges, polytechnics and school boards—to lodge every academic award with the depository, where it would be verified and stored in an electronic format. This would enable education institutions, students and employers to access the depository for the records as and when required without having to approach the institution or board everytime a transcript of an award was required to be verified.

The system of online verification would also help eliminate instances of forged certificates and marksheets. The ministry has after consultations decided to introduce some changes in the original bill. A senior ministry official said "the most notable change is that no private agencies would be roped in to upload the academic award in electronic format and that students would not have to pay for the service."

In the legislation proposed by the UPA government, to decentralize and facilitate the lodging of awards in the depository, private agencies such as bank branches and educational institutions and interested private companies were to be authorized by the national depository to provide the required services.

The parliamentary standing committee had expressed its concern about allowing private agencies to serve as authorized depository agents.