When none other than the Human Resource Development minister Smriti Irani and her deputy Ram Shankar Katheria have been embroiled in charges of fake or forged academic documents, the seriousness of the crisis facing the nation can well be imagined.
Real problem
Even though prominent ministers could well be victims of a ‘political conspiracy’ against them, the reality is that fake mark sheets are a real problem, having been unearthed in many universities across the country more often than one would expect.
Recently, the chairman of the Jodhpur National University Kamal Mehta was arrested, on charges of allegedly being the kingpin of a racket which sold fake marksheets for anywhere between Rs 5,000-1,50,000. Prima Facie, it is being estimated that over 38,000 such fake marksheets were sold to students from northern and eastern regions in just this one racket.
This instance is hardly one of its kind.
In Andhra Pradesh, students with marksheets from fake school education boards, claiming to be approved by the Planning Commission, or through school boards in Nepal and Bangladesh have filled up the universities. Hundreds of fake certificates have already been identified in recent checks forcing officials and educationists to think of a solution.
Lapsed bill
The solution to the problem could lie in a lapsed bill, proposed by the then United Progressive Alliance government in 2011 which is still waiting for its turn to be reintroduced in the Parliament.
It is likely that in the ongoing budget session of the Parliament, human resource development ministry could introduce the National Academic Depository bill which aims to digitise all academic credentials, thus allowing anyone to verify a marksheet or degree by just logging on to an internet database.
Not only verification, the database will make it easier for employers to verify and students to obtain duplicates or attested copies of their marksheets. Following the implementation, all degrees will carry a 2D barcode which will provide authentic details upon scanning even if the physical degree has been tampered with.
These measures become particularly important in the light of a 2014 report by background screening company First Advantage which found out that 10% of applications in certain sectors like retail, hospitality etc. had discrepancies. Out of these, 62% of the cases involved fake documents and 28% of such cases involved documents from unrecognised or fake universities, the report added.
The ambitious project was expected to cover as many as 650 universities, 38,000 colleges and one million schools making it quite comprehensive and widespread but an equally difficult feat to achieve, if at all it took off.
The bill is clearly an important piece of legislation for Narendra Modi’s favourite ‘digital India’ theme but also pronounce what has been echoed by states for long: a central digital library of all marksheets.
Stuck in the slow lane
The bill was introduced in Lok Sabha five years ago on September 5, 2011 but in less than a week, it was referred to a standing committee for its recommendations. It took over a year for the committee to come up with its recommendations. The committee recommended that the exorbitant fine for those tampering with the system reaching up to Rs one crore be replaced with the relevant provisions of the IT Act instead and that the depository also take care of sports and extracurricular certifications.
However, the bill soon lapsed after the standing committee presented its report. Since then, it has been on the radar for many sessions of the Parliament and is still waiting for a rescue.
There was a glimmer of hope last year when news reports swirled around after the Modi government took over in May that it could fast track the bill and introduce it as early as last August, but nothing came off the rumours even though the government managed to announce that it will make it free for the students to access the database and also bear the costs of implementation of the project unlike the original draft which prescribed recovery of costs from the educational institutions.
Sketchy past
As rosy as it might sound, the way ahead for the government to build a robust, efficient as well as a trustworthy digital portal which is safe from hackers, is going to be an uphill task. Maharashtra tried doing the same last month for its school degrees but wasn’t quite successful. The state board launched its online marksheet verification system last year but officials at the board reported that it still receives many requests for physical verification.
In the absence of a reliable statement from the government on the validity of online verification and general awareness, the system awaits for its limelight moment, much like the National Academic Depository.
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Real problem
Even though prominent ministers could well be victims of a ‘political conspiracy’ against them, the reality is that fake mark sheets are a real problem, having been unearthed in many universities across the country more often than one would expect.
Recently, the chairman of the Jodhpur National University Kamal Mehta was arrested, on charges of allegedly being the kingpin of a racket which sold fake marksheets for anywhere between Rs 5,000-1,50,000. Prima Facie, it is being estimated that over 38,000 such fake marksheets were sold to students from northern and eastern regions in just this one racket.
This instance is hardly one of its kind.
In Andhra Pradesh, students with marksheets from fake school education boards, claiming to be approved by the Planning Commission, or through school boards in Nepal and Bangladesh have filled up the universities. Hundreds of fake certificates have already been identified in recent checks forcing officials and educationists to think of a solution.
Lapsed bill
The solution to the problem could lie in a lapsed bill, proposed by the then United Progressive Alliance government in 2011 which is still waiting for its turn to be reintroduced in the Parliament.
It is likely that in the ongoing budget session of the Parliament, human resource development ministry could introduce the National Academic Depository bill which aims to digitise all academic credentials, thus allowing anyone to verify a marksheet or degree by just logging on to an internet database.
Not only verification, the database will make it easier for employers to verify and students to obtain duplicates or attested copies of their marksheets. Following the implementation, all degrees will carry a 2D barcode which will provide authentic details upon scanning even if the physical degree has been tampered with.
These measures become particularly important in the light of a 2014 report by background screening company First Advantage which found out that 10% of applications in certain sectors like retail, hospitality etc. had discrepancies. Out of these, 62% of the cases involved fake documents and 28% of such cases involved documents from unrecognised or fake universities, the report added.
The ambitious project was expected to cover as many as 650 universities, 38,000 colleges and one million schools making it quite comprehensive and widespread but an equally difficult feat to achieve, if at all it took off.
The bill is clearly an important piece of legislation for Narendra Modi’s favourite ‘digital India’ theme but also pronounce what has been echoed by states for long: a central digital library of all marksheets.
Stuck in the slow lane
The bill was introduced in Lok Sabha five years ago on September 5, 2011 but in less than a week, it was referred to a standing committee for its recommendations. It took over a year for the committee to come up with its recommendations. The committee recommended that the exorbitant fine for those tampering with the system reaching up to Rs one crore be replaced with the relevant provisions of the IT Act instead and that the depository also take care of sports and extracurricular certifications.
However, the bill soon lapsed after the standing committee presented its report. Since then, it has been on the radar for many sessions of the Parliament and is still waiting for a rescue.
There was a glimmer of hope last year when news reports swirled around after the Modi government took over in May that it could fast track the bill and introduce it as early as last August, but nothing came off the rumours even though the government managed to announce that it will make it free for the students to access the database and also bear the costs of implementation of the project unlike the original draft which prescribed recovery of costs from the educational institutions.
Sketchy past
As rosy as it might sound, the way ahead for the government to build a robust, efficient as well as a trustworthy digital portal which is safe from hackers, is going to be an uphill task. Maharashtra tried doing the same last month for its school degrees but wasn’t quite successful. The state board launched its online marksheet verification system last year but officials at the board reported that it still receives many requests for physical verification.
In the absence of a reliable statement from the government on the validity of online verification and general awareness, the system awaits for its limelight moment, much like the National Academic Depository.