Cabinet approves National Academic
Despository to digitally secure records of school and universities
NEW DELHI: The Union Cabinet on Thursday gave
its approval to set up a National Academic Depository (NAD) on the lines of a
securities depository that would digitally secure and store marksheets, degrees
and all form of certificates, records of school boards and higher educational
institutions.
The NAD, which is part of Narendra Modi’s
government digital India programme, the Union Cabinet has decided that the NAD
be set up in the next three months for which an initial outlay of Rs 60 crore
has been granted.
Additionally, NAD would be rolled out
pan-India in the 2017-18 financial year, the Union Cabinet has decided.
In his budget speech in February this year,
Union finance minister Arun Jaitley announced the government’s commitment to
establish NAD, according to an official statement issued after the Cabinet
meeting.
The NAD would be operationalized by NSDL
Database Management Limited (NDML) and CDSL Ventures, Limited (CVL), two of the
wholly-owned subsidiaries of the depositories registered under Securities Exchange
Board of India (SEBI) Act, 1992.
The onus for the authenticity of data
digitally uploaded into the system will be of the academic institutions.
The depositories will ensure the integrity of
the data in the NAD. The NAD will register educational institutions, boards,
eligibility assessment bodies, students and other users such as verifying
entities like banks, employer companies, government agencies and academic
institutions.
The NAD will provide digital or a printed
copy of the academic award with security features to the students or other
authorized users. It will also verify academic awards online on the same day of
request initiated by any authorized users.
However, requests for access to academic
awards from potential employers, and academic institutions would be only on the
basis of consent of the student.
NAD will maintain the authenticity, integrity
and confidentiality of its database. It will also train and facilitate academic
institutions to efficiently lodge academic awards in the database.
The Cabinet has also given its approval to
ex-post facto nod for the formation of an Indian Institute of Science Education
and Research (IISER), Berhampur Society and its operationalization in a transit
campus from the current academic year 2016-17.
It will involve a cost of Rs I52.79 crore,
for the initial three years (2016-19). The IISER have been declared as
institutes of national importance. They do research in areas of science and
come up with curriculum for quality science education at the under-graduate and
post-graduate level.
There are six other IISERs at Pune, Mohali,
Bhopal, Kolkata, and Thiruvananthapuram and Tirupati (set up last year).
Regards
Pralhad
Jadhav
Senior
Manager @ Library
Khaitan
& Co
