NDMLAD is an important initiative of NDML to facilitate issuance, storage and access of academic awards in an online depository system on the pattern of Securities Depository.
Academic Institutions, Students and Verification Users (Employers, Banks, Consulates, Academic Institutions) are the main stakeholders in NDMLAD system. .
NDMLAD aspires to make the vision of Digital Academic Certificates for every Indian a reality. This touches the lives of Indian youth and empowers them with Digital, Online, Trusted, Verifiable Certificates which are accessible in a secure manner at all times. NDMLAD promises to do away with difficulties / inefficiencies of collecting, maintaining, and presenting physical paper certificates. NDMLAD is not only a database copy of the certificate records for Academic Institutes but a complete system for Issuing Online Certificates to Well Identified and Registered Students. It will be an active online place for Students, Academic Institutes and Verification Users. NDMLAD brings in deterrence factor for people who wish to think that paper certificates can be easily forged / created and as verification processes are costly and inefficient they can use the arbitrage. By doing so it also brings trust and credibility to genuine certificate holders and makes their certificates trusted and easily accepted.
NDMLAD will develop an online portfolio of all education certificates which can be submitted easily for employment, higher education, and loan and are easily trusted and verified. NDML integrates directly with Boards / Universities which issue Certificates and hence ensure Authenticity of Certificate Records.
Important services that NDMLAD will provide:
Under the framework of NDMLAD system, MHRD has appointed two depositories to facilitate AIs with wider choice of efficient and competitive services. You can choose to lodge your certificate records with any depository of your choice.
NDMLAD system ensures that the data lodged with any depository is automatically replicated on other depository also.
The students can also choose to register on any depository irrespective of which depository you choose to lodge awards.
You may invite proposal from both the depositories in terms of their organisation profile, experience of developing and implementing projects and NDMLAD service and commercial offerings. This would help you make informed decision about experience, capabilities and other details of both the depositories and the commercials being offered.
It may be mentioned that the standard services being offered by depositories under the NDMLAD framework have been designed and reviewed by MHRD and would be operated in a uniform manner by both the depositories. MHRD will also define the ceiling on the service charges that may be levied by the depositories for NDMLAD service.
It may also be mentioned that by choosing any depository at this point of time, you do not loose your flexibility to shift to other depository in future. At any point of time in future if you wish to shift to other depository; you can do so without having to upload previous records or redo any previous work.
You will be required to sign an agreement with NDML. This agreement is a standard agreement and is reviewed and approved by MHRD. You can submit the model joining agreement along-with basic details of your AI to NDML for onboarding your AI on the depository system. It may be mentioned that there are no charges for joining / registering on NDMLAD. NDML teams spread across the country would also be happy to help you in joining / registering on NDMLAD.
NDML will register the details and provide you with a signed copy of the agreement for your records.
NDML will also generate and issue you a unique AI Code. This code is unique for each AI, across both the depositories. This code can also be used while lodging any data in NDMLAD.
NDMLAD would be happy to assist and hand-hold you in understanding and using Depository system and brings around its services closer to you in many ways:
AI is an important focal point for the working of the NDMLAD system. Students enrol with AI for pursuing courses, AI issues Awards to the students. NDMLAD looks forward to creating a digital front-end for the AI which it can use to facilitate engagement with students and issue them certificates. NDMLAD will also serve as an information and certificate records management system to support the needs of the AI.
Following are the important functions to be performed by AI:These functions are explained in details in this document.
Advising students to register on NDMLAD system :
Students need to register on NDMLAD system so that their Certificates can be made available to them in a convenient and secure manner in their account.
It is suggested that Aadhaar Identification framework offered by UIDAI may beforeused for the purpose of student identification and NDMLAD registration of the students.
AI may advise students as part of its admission process or examination enrolment process to submit their Aadhaar details and also provide a confirmation that the student has registered on NDMLAD using such Aadhaar. This will ensure that the Aadhaar number is available with the AI for the student and student's registration on NDMLAD is completed. It may be mentioned that Aadhaar based registration on NDMLAD system is a convenient, electronic registration which can be easily completed in a few minutes.
Collecting NDMLAD registration details of Students
It is important that Students register on NDMLAD system and submit their registration information to AI. There are following two methods of NDMLAD registration available to students
Aadhaar based registration: As explained earlier, this is a completely online registration process which is supported with Ekyc framework of UIDAI. It can be easily completed by most of the students. For those students who have not completed Aadhaar registration or do not have Mobile number or Email ID registered in their Aadhaar records, they can visit any convenient Aadhaar Enrolment centre of UIDAI and complete the process before registering on NDMLAD. As AI also start collecting Aadhaar Number as part of its admission process or examination enrolment process, there will be no further data collection or verification will be required.
Non Aadhaar based registration: It has been pointed that there are few locations where Aadhaar enrolment facilities are not widely available and hence NDMLAD provides an alternate registration process. Here, the student can visit NDMLAD website and declare that he / she does not have Aadhaar. Depository system will facilitate the student to register and declare his / her information including the the photographs and the signature impression. Student’s account will be temporarily registered and will be issued a registration ID. However, this data is as declared by the student and it is not verified. Therefore, the academic institution needs to review it and verify the same from its record and approve the registration. AI will also make a note of the student’s NDMLAD ID. Now student’s account is registered with NDMLAD ID and the same information is also available with AI. When AI uploads the certificate award with the NDMLAD ID, the same will be directly credited to the NDMLAD account of the student.
Including NDMLAD registration details of Students in Student records and certificate records;
As explained above, AI will collect Aadhaar / NDMLAD ID for the students and NDMLAD account of the students will also be registered with Aadhaar / NDMLAD ID. When AI uploads the certificate award with the Aadhaar / NDMLAD ID, the same will be directly credited to the NDMLAD account of the student.
Preparing, verifying and lodging Certificate awards in NDMLAD system
The academic institution needs to prepare the details of the certificate records which needs to be issued to the students. These records can include Degrees, Marks Statement, Provisional Certificate, Transcript, Migration certificate. AI needs to prepare the certificate records in the prescribed XML data format. NDMLAD will provide easy utility for preparing the data in XML format and provide training to AI for the same.
The records should be verified by the concerned officers before lodging into the depository system. Authorised Officers of the AI needs to digitally sign the data being lodged in the depository system. AI needs to ensure that details of the students NDMLAD registration i.e. Aadhaar / NDMLAD ID are included as part of the certificate records so that the certificate can be made available to the student in his / her account.
Using NDMLAD system for verifying certificates issued by other AI; for granting admissions
The depository system will also help the academic Institutions to verify The authenticity and correctness of the certificate being submitted by the students while applying for admissions. Presently the academic institutions have to verify the paper certificates and make photocopies. With the Depository system, the academic institution will be able to upload the details of all the students who applied for admissions and seek details of the certificate in an electronic manner from the depository system.
The responsibility for accuracy and authenticity of certificate records and identity of the students rests with you. Therefore, you need to ensure that certificate data is thoroughly verified and authorised persons lodge the records in NDMLAD under their digital signatures.
Before lodging the certificate records in the depository system, it is to be ensured that the depository system understands the details of the courses being conducted by the academic institution, the type of certificate being granted and the format of the certificates. Therefore, the academic institution needs to provide the details of the various courses being conducted, the subjects been covered under such courses and the certificates provided. The Depository system will create these details in the system and will get it verified from the academic institution. Thereafter when the academic institution lodges the certificate records, the same will be matched again the details already registered and the certificate should be generated in the certificate design which is already agreed and the certificates will be issued to the account of the concerned students.
In order to create an institutional framework for operating NDMLAD services, it is suggested that a Nodal NDMLAD Cell be created in all AIs and such cell ensures that various NDMLAD functions are effectively executed. The Nodal Cell will be nodal point of contact with Depository. NDMLAD will provide the required training and handholding support.
NDMLAD system will issue a unique NDMLAD Certificate ID to each certificate record in NDMLAD system. This number will also identify the details of the depository through which the certificate was lodged.
Yes it is possible to correct / modify / update / cancel any certificate record which is lodged in depository system. If due to any reason it is observed that there was an error in the records which were lodged or the record was updated subsequently due to further events / review; the depository system will provide facility for enabling such change. It may be mentioned that the depository system will maintain complete audit trail of the instance of lodgement and the change. Therefore, it would be possible to identify the officers who have changed the records and the reason for the change
Yes. You can upload awards for the past years in the depository. However, for effectively uploading any award, the complete data including student identity should be provided to the Depository
Yes. Standard MIS will be provided to you to get the required information and also objectively decide on various aspects of certificate records issuance and verification.