Patna, Jan. 5: This year’s BEd and Med entrance examinations were marked by large scale irregularities. Many feel the confusions could have been averted if certain steps were taken.

A teacher at Patna University said if National Academy Depository was enacted in the state, things might have been different.

The much-acclaimed National Academic Depository, which was introduced by human resource development (HRD) department last year. Its main aim is to keep a track of all the records of marksheets of Class X, XII, graduation and postgraduation levels.

Union HRD minister Kapil Sibal introduced the bill in July last year and under its framework all educational institutions are supposed to make online records of all documents.

The bill is being discussed and the state government has said it has no problems in enacting the bill.

The state’s HRD department principal secretary, Anjani Kumar Singh said: “The bill is in its stage of final consultation and the state government has no problems in enacting it as the National Academic Depository aims at the larger interest of students.”

The implementation of the depository would make it mandatory for all educational institutions to maintain the academic records of the students.

Singh said: “Once introduced, the depository will also curtail the time taken by various government agencies in finalising the merit list of candidates appearing in various competitive examinations as much of the time is taken by government agencies in verifying the certificates of candidates.”

The depository seeks to establish and maintain a national database of academic records in an electronic format. Once it is set up, it would be able to curb frauds like forging of certificates and marksheets and help institutions by reducing their burden of preserving the academic records.

The bill, if introduced, in the state would help in checking all types of frauds and irregularities committed in various universities in Bihar. In Patna University alone there has been large scale irregularities committed in this year BEd admission process. With the implementation of the depository, these could have been averted.