Degree holders’ details to be made available online..THE HINDU

Degree holders’ details to be made available online

• R. RAVIKANTH REDDY

It would be hard to cheat the prospective employers with fake degree certificates and credentials in the near future with the Telangana State Council of Higher Education (TSCHE) deciding to consolidate the data base of all degree holders and place it on online for verification.

Data from 2011 will be open to public and prospective employers, including the Government sector, can check the credentials online anytime of any candidate. The data will contain all the details of the candidates including the academic details like marks secured and also personal details such as parents’ names and the college they attended. A meeting of the Registrars and Controller of Examinations of all the universities in Telangana will be held soon to review and take a final decision on the issue.

The TSCHE Chairman, T. Papi Reddy, said that the idea was to plug the increasing complaints on fake credentials being submitted to employers by candidates. Apparently, some candidates are changing their marks sheets totally to gain employment while some are submitting fake documents obtained through touts. The menace is more in IT companies which employs lakhs of people and it is a financial drain to check the credentials of the documents. “There is a need for transparency in the system and this will lead to fairplay in employment. Moreover, fake degrees can be effectively tackled if we make the data open to all,” Prof. Reddy said arguing in favour of it. “We are acquiring servers that can accommodate the huge data keeping in view future need as well.” Companies can check all the details online and reject the fake ones. In fact, it will be a check on candidates who impersonate in the entrance examinations as the data submitted can also be tallied with the available data online by the Convenors.

The fake degrees and credentials have been a big issue ever since the IT market boomed in the US as well as India. A number of students used fake engineering degrees to move to USA in the late 90s.