From now on, faking certificates will not be possible, if they are from the Jawaharlal Nehru Technological
University - Hyderabad
(JNTUH).
The university will now
issue tamper-proof degree certificates with a chip containing vital information
of the candidate embedded in it.
The JNTUH Vice-Chancellor,
D.N. Reddy said the "SmartDegree" cannot be faked and will help
genuine students who face problems due to strict checks at various companies or
embassies issuing visas for higher studies.
"It will enable hassle-free
visa processing across the country and also avoids cumbersome procedure for job
placements apart from increasing the credibility of the degrees awarded by the
university," he said.
Tata Consultancy Services
(TCS) has provided the necessary technology in developing these degrees.
"SmartDegree is tamper
proof. It stores biometric and demographic details of students inside the chip,
which is embedded in the degree certificate itself. It is developed by Smart
Card Innovation Lab of TCS set-up in Hyderabad,"
said K. Ananth Krishnan, Vice-President and Chief Technology Officer, TCS.
Prof. Reddy said JNTUH was
one of the few universities in the country using this technology for the
certificates. Some central universities, including the Hyderabad Central
University use similar
technology but only for their PhDs. "We will be using this for the B. Tech
certificates and other courses as well from this year itself," he said.
The cost of the each certificate is around Rs. 350.
This will be a part of the
Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) entered between JNTUH and TCS. The MOU also
allows the latter to provide management consultancy and information technology
services and solutions for improving and enhancing the functions of the
Department of Examinations.
The services would include
improving the security, both physical and logical at the Department of
Examination; and improving and enhancing the existing database of student
information and software applications.
The regional Head of TCS
Hyderabad, V Rajanna said that TCS and JNTU have been collaborating in various
dimensions as part of TCS'' Global Academic Interface Programme for many years
and this MOU will add a new dimension to the relationship.