MU to create Docus bank

Mumbai University (MU) will soon be part of a global document authentication network that will allow alumni and students to create a repository of verified documents. According to a recent RTI, MU received 274 fake degrees for verification by employer. The initiative for creating a global document authentication network will allow alumni and students to send certified and authenticated documents electronically to their future employer or embassies for the processing of visa or to the institutions where they seek admission for higher studies. The current process takes over two months and is expensive for students settled abroad. A technology firm, Myeasydoc, which deals in security, performance, privacy and integrity of the documents, will have many embassies, 100 foreign institutions, government offices and 1,000 employers to conduct background checks for corporate databases and can be used by students during job hunts, admission to institutes of higher education or authentication for visas. The database will be expanded soon.

Student needs to upload their documents and select their university; officials will search for the document in their database and verify it. The verified document will then be sent to the employer, embassies and higher education institutes that are selected by the students. Thomas Tharakan, chief financial officer of the technology firm, said, “If the university searches for the document manually, it may take a little more time. If the documents are digitally available with the university, it can be done within a day.”Since the verification process in institutes of higher education in the country is not stringent, the system is more useful for admissions to overseas universities. The verified document will remain in the student’s personal account and can be accessed multiple times.

Sanjay Deshmukh, vice-chancellor of Mumbai University said, “Many institutes are part of it but we will be the first major university to adopt the technology. We will start it on a pilot basis and then extend to all students. It will be an initiative in support of the Centre’s Digital India campaign.” He added, “This will ease many issues related to documents, especially those we attribute to human error. Students will spend very little time getting their documents authenticated at a cheaper rate.”