Forged educational certificates could soon be a thing of the past. The government is all set to establish and maintain, in electronic format, a database of all academic certificates issued by universities and Central and state school boards. The National Academic Depository Bill is likely to be placed before Parliament at its coming Monsoon Session.
The HRD ministry also plans to electronically mark these digitised certificates in case a student takes an education loan. This will help make the subsidised education loan scheme a success. Several banks lobbied for e-marking of these certificates to make recovery of loans easier.
Official sources said the depository will ensure that the circulation of fake degrees and diplomas is checked in India. “It will put in place a foolproof verification process for employers. All school boards, universities and certificate-issuing institutions will be linked to the depository. Any person, employer or institution requiring a copy of an educational certificate will have the facility of online access,” a source said.