A
National Conference for awareness on National Academic Depository was
inaugurated by Shri Prakash Javadekar, Minister for Human Resource Development
in New Delhi today.
Establishment
of a National Academic Depository is a step towards the Digital India
vision of the Hon’ble Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, said the Union Minister
for Human Resource Development. The Union Minister called upon all participants
to resolve to target year 2017 to roll out use of National Academic Depository.
He further added, we are witnessing change here; way of life is
changed due to technology. He further stated that technology has
become all pervasive in all walks of life, whether it is shopping,
booking railways ticket, banking or mobile recharge; we have witnessed a huge
transformation in the way we used to function.
The
Minister stated that the securities depositories in the country have already
made dematerialization of the financial securities and have been ensuring the
safety of the financial wealth of the investors. This system can now be
replicated for the educational awards. It is high time the academic awards are
verified and authenticated, accessed and retrieved in a digital depository. He
encouraged the institutions present to change the mindset by welcoming
technology in the form of NAD and make it a reality. Union Minister emphasised
upon 3 things, change in mindset, absorbing ‘tried, tested and trusted
technology’ and thus enhancing transparency and authenticity.
The
Government of India is committed towards bringing administrative and academic
reforms through the use of technology for delivery of efficient services to all
stakeholders. Towards this end, Government intends to establish a digital
depository of academic awards to be known as National Academic Depository (NAD)
on the pattern of securities depository. The NAD would help in validating the
authenticity of these awards and ensuring their safe storage and easy
retrieval. Maintaining academic awards in a digital depository would provide
benefit to educational institutions, students and employers by enabling online
access and retrieval; eliminate fraudulent practices such as forging of
certificates and mark-sheets and facilitate validation. NAD would be available
online 24X7 access to the stakeholders.
Dr.
Mahendra Nath Pandey, MOS (HRD) echoed the views of Hon’ble HRM and added that
now even the poorest of the poor are able to seek access to higher education,
thereby increasing the number of individuals seeking educational certificates. The
need for such a measure as NAD is well established. The initiative, he stated, will
be a footprint into a new era of 21st century.
Speaking
on the occasion, Secretary (Higher Education), MHRD, Shri Vinay Sheel Oberoi,
said that the cardinal principle in the NAD system is for any award to be made
available to any person other than student, only with the explicit consent of
the student. He also requested all the academic institutions to get on board
quickly and requested the participants to disseminate the experience with
others involved in the process.
A presentation
on NAD model was made by the depositories, wherein they explained the role of
various stakeholders viz. Academic Institutions (AIs), students and verifiers
and the depositories. A live demo of uploading and lodging the academic awards
on the NAD system was also made by the depositories. This was followed by Question
& Answer session wherein the various queries/clarifications raised by the
participants were addressed.
Joint
Secretary (Higher Education), MHRD, requested representatives from various
Central higher educational institutions and State public universities participated,
to engage actively in the presentations and live demos that followed. A series
of training workshops are being organised, region-wise. The event ended with
the vote of thanks to the participant academic institutions.
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GG/RT/NAD