DigiLocker documents are yet to become a norm for university admissions – Times of India

The UGC recently directed all higher education institutes (HEIs) to accept degrees, mark sheets and other documents that are available in DigiLocker accounts as valid documents. While many central universities have been uploading all degrees on the platform, they are yet to start taking admissions based on documents available in the same.

Need for the shift

JN Baliya, head of department, Education Studies and Mass Communication & New Media, Central University of Jammu (CUJ), says, “National Academic Depository (NAD) is an online storehouse of academic awards (degrees and mark-sheets) lodged by academic institutions in a digital format. It facilitates students to get authentic documents and certificates in digital format directly from their original issuers anytime.”

He adds that academic institutions can register themselves and upload academic awards of their institution on NAD through Digilocker NAD portal.

BJ Rao, vice-chancellor, University of Hyderabad (UoH), says, “The emphasis on the shift from submission of hard copies to the digital locker is part of the bigger plan to digitise education under National Education Policy (NEP) 2020.”

Various advantages


“With this, students will be able to easily avail the multiple entry, exit option under the NEP to the university of their choice,” says Rao.

Yogesh Singh, vice-chancellor, University of Delhi (DU), says, “With no need to submit hard copies, it will also minimise the need to travel to the university for admission.” There will also be minimal possibility of fraud degree/caste certificates being submitted by candidates, he adds.

Digital documents will also help recruiters, adds Singh. “In our current system, getting access to hard copies of degree/certificates may be a time-consuming process. There have been cases where students lose out on jobs with private companies due to this delay. With all documents readily available on one platform, the recruitment process will become smoother,” he tells.

Also, hard copies of documents may get destroyed, which will not be the case with the digitally preserved copies, adds Rao. “This will enable students who may have to take a break from their education for any reason to get back into the process later,” he says.

Current processes in place


At DU, the process of uploading degrees in DigiLocker was initiated in 2021, says DS Rawat, dean (exams). “Thus far, the university has uploaded all degrees and marksheets for 2017. The process of uploading documents from 2018 onwards should be completed soon,” he tells. At the same time, CBSE documents in DigiLocker are being accepted for admission since 2019, says Pinki Sharma, dean (admissions), DU.

Baliya says that CUJ university has been uploading and accepting marksheets/degrees on the University’s portal ‘Samarth’ for the last couple of years. “Earlier, we asked students for a small set of documents. Last year, due to the pandemic, students had to upload only the qualifying final certificate on the portal to ease the process,” he tells. DigiLocker NAD will further make the process smoother for all stakeholders, he adds.

University of Mumbai established the National Academic Depository Cell on February 26, 2020. Officials tell that thus far, the cell has deposited and published 12,45,000 degrees in the DigiLocker. “The university is yet to start taking admission based on certificates available on the platform,” tell the officials.

For admissions, UoH considers digital certificates. However, hard copies of certificates are verified after students come to campus, tells Rao. “UoH had uploaded all its certificates in NAD in 2019. The University aims to become fully digital soon, with the verification of certificates being shifted completely online.”

Moving forward


To ensure a level playing field for all students, steps need to be taken to ensure that all state boards start uploading related documents online, says Sharma. “Uploading digital documents on the platform is still difficult for students from rural areas. In 2020 and 2021, we have started receiving admission requests through the DigiLocker portal from students of few state boards. For the shift to become truly successful, more efforts are needed from state boards,” she tells.