Usually criticised for its exam reforms, Mumbai University’s (MU) initiative to print rainbow-coloured marksheets with students’ photographs that have several security features to prevent bogus certificates and easy verification by prospective employers and other authorities, could now be replicated by universities across the country. In a recent notification, the University Grants Commission (UGC) has written to vice-chancellors of all universities asking them to consider adopting this initiative, along with other security measures, to bring about uniformity and transparency in the system.
“The Commission appreciates this initiative of the university, which shall help in eliminating duplicity of marksheets and enable easy verification by various authorities and employing organisations…You may get in touch with Mumbai University for obtaining the details of the procedure,” says the UGC letter.
The letter was sent after Rajya Sabha MP Anil Desai from Shiv Sena wrote a letter to UGC, highlighting this initiative and stating that all universities or institutes, which are recognised by UGC, should adopt the procedure to avoid bogus documents and fake marksheets.
In 2010, Mumbai University had lodged a First Information Report (FIR) against 627 candidates who had produced fake marksheets between 2006 to 2009. The step was taken after the state government sent a directive to all universities to lodge a police complaint against those candidates who had produced false documents.
The anomalies were detected by the university during verification in 2010 and while the maximum number of cases were found in Bachelor of Commerce (BCom), the other disciplines included Bachelor of Arts (BA), engineering, Bachelor of Science (BSc) and also Masters of Management Studies (MMS).
The same year, MU did away with plain marksheets by opting for a rainbow colour scheme, citing security measures as the main reason.
According to university officials, while the plain marksheets did not have a distinguishing feature and lacked security codes, the seven-colour scheme was unique to MU. At present, there are 12 security features incorporated in the marksheets to avoid duplication.
In 2013, in order to add more security features, the university had stopped printing photographs or mug-shots of the students on the right side of the marksheets. This feature is expected to be re-started again this year, said a Mumbai University official.
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