The vision of National Academic Depository (NAD) is born out of an initiative to provide an online store house of all academic awards. National Academic Depository (NAD) is a 24X7 online store house of all academic awards viz.certificates, diplomas, degrees, mark-sheets etc. duly digitised and lodged by academic institutions / boards / eligibility assessment bodies. NAD not only ensures easy access to and retrieval of an academic award but also validates and guarantees its authenticity and safe storage.
National Academic Depository comprises of two interoperable digital depositories viz. CDSL Ventures Limited (CVL) and NSDL Database Management Limited (NDML). These digital depositories have ensured hardware, network facilities and software of prescribed quality for smooth and secured operationalisation of NAD.
UGC-the authorized body
The Union Cabinet has approved establishing a digital depository of academic awards to be known as National Academic Depository (NAD) on the pattern of securities depository in its meeting held on 27th October, 2016.
Consequent upon the approval of Cabinet, the Government in exercise of powers conferred under section 20(1) of University Grants Commission Act,1956 has designated University Grants Commission (UGC) as an authorised body to enter into a tripartite agreement on behalf of all Central Higher Educational Institutions (CHEIs), Institutions of National Importance (INIs) and Boards with the wholly owned subsidiaries of the depositories registered under SEBI Act, 1992, namely NSDL Database Management Limited (NDML) and CDSL Ventures Limited (CVL) initially for a period of three years for the purposes of establishment of NAD comprising of two interoperable digital depositories.
The UGC has signed a tripartite agreement with NSDL Database Management Limited (NDML) and CDSL Ventures Limited (CVL) for operationalising NAD. The academic institutions / boards / eligibility assessment bodies are required to select either of the two depositories for entering into legally enforceable agreement for utilizing services of NAD. Lodging, access, retrieval and validation of academic awards in the NAD will be primarily on the strength of this agreement.
The students and verification users are free to select either of the depositories to register on to NAD.
Further, NAD provides a feature of portability i.e. the users of NAD may switch among the depositories if they are not satisfied with the services rendered. Since, the depositories are inter-operable, the data would be automatically synced among the depositories, the user can seamlessly operate the same account with the other depository.
Features of NAD
NAD will:
Operate in fully online mode
Allow lodging of Academic awards in a digital format, maintaining the integrity of access to the database and of the awards lodged in the database.
Allow students to retrieve their lodged academic awards at any time.
Allow employers and other person with prior approval of the concerned student to verify the authenticity of any academic award.
Maintain the authenticity, integrity and confidentiality of the database.
Stakeholders of NAD
Students/other award holders
Academic Institutions/Boards/Eligibility assessment bodies
Verifying entities i.e. banks, employer companies (domestic and overseas), Government entities, academic institutions/universities/boards/eligibility assessment bodies (domestic and overseas) etc.
Ministry of Human Resource Development/ University Grants Commission
Depositories i.e. NSDL Database Management Limited (NDML) and CDSL Ventures Limited (CVL)
Academic Institutions to be covered under NAD
Academic Institutions to be covered under NAD shall be the institutions listed by name by the University Grants Commission amongst the following categories:
Central Educational Institutions comprising:
Central Universities
Central Higher Educational Institutions and institutions
empowered by an Act of Parliament or State Legislature to grant degrees
Central Higher Educational Institutions awarding diplomas
State Universities and Deemed to be Universities approved for participating in NAD by the University Grants Commission (UGC).
Private Universities approved by University Grants Commission
Institutions approved by the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (MSDE) for participating in NAD.
Central Board of Secondary Education;
Other School Boards.
Eligibility test conducting bodies such as bodies listed by name by UGC and shall include University Grants Commission (UGC) for National Eligibility Test (NET) and CBSE for Teacher Eligibility Test (TET).
Academic Awards to be covered under NAD
Academic awards to be covered under NAD shall be the awards listed by the University Grants Commission amongst the following categories:
Any certificate or degree or diploma including related mark sheets, transcript or evaluation reports or provisional certificates, as the case may be, granted by an Academic Institution
Certificate, degree, diploma for skill development issued by approved institutions.
All certifications by National Skill Qualification Framework (NSQF) aligned bodies which shall include all training courses/short term and long term certificate courses/any other courses as offered by institutions and as approved by the Ministry of Skill Development & Entrepreneurship (MSDE) for participating in NAD;
Mark sheets, certificates issued by the school boards;
Certificates issued by eligibility test conducting bodies.
To know more about National Academic Depository (NAD), please visit the following official url :
Source : http://nad.gov.in
