- Big gift from the Centre in the higher education sector of Chhattisgarh
- Vishnu Prasad Verma, Assistant Director
One of the biggest gifts to Chhattisgarh under the National Education Policy (NEP 2020)—the Academic Bank of Credit (ABC) and DigiLocker integration scheme—has completely transformed the state’s higher education landscape. Mandatory implementation from the 2023-24 academic year in coordination with the central government and the Chhattisgarh Higher Education Department, the scheme is expected to reach full maturity in 2026. Now, every student in the state carries a digital university in their pocket.
- What is this ‘credit bank’ and how will it change life?
Imagine a bank where your education and college credits (marks) are deposited, not money. If you have to interrupt your studies for some reason, this bank ensures that your hard work doesn’t go to waste.
Imagine a student studying at a college in Bastar had to drop out after the second year due to family reasons. Under the previous system, their two years of study were considered zero. Now, all the marks or credits a student earned in the first two years will be stored in the digital bank through their ABC ID. When they want to study again in two or three years, they will be able to directly enroll in the third year at Raipur, Bilaspur, or any other university in the country. This is called “multiple entry and exit.”
- ‘Scorecard’ of the digital revolution in Chhattisgarh
This integrated digital system is not only securing the documents of the students but also giving them the freedom to facilitate their studies on a nationwide level. Currently, this scheme is fully operational in all 33 districts of Chhattisgarh, covering more than 6.5 lakh students of the state.
Leading universities of the state like Pandit Ravishankar Shukla University (Raipur), Atal Bihari Vajpayee University (Bilaspur), and Shaheed Mahendra Karma University (Bastar) along with all the government and private colleges have actively participated in this mega campaign.
- 100% central support
Chhattisgarh has received this vast technological infrastructure completely free of charge. The central government’s Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) and the Ministry of Education are providing 100% technical and financial support, resulting in zero financial burden on the state government.
- DigiLocker becomes a ‘safety shield’: The fear of losing it is over
Often, students’ original marksheets or degrees were destroyed due to accident or negligence, forcing them to make rounds of the university. Now, this problem has been permanently resolved.
Universities have been directly linked to the National Academic Repository (NAD) portal, allowing students’ degrees and certificates to be uploaded directly to their DigiLocker.
These digital documents are as legally valid as the original hard copies. This means there’s no need to carry bulky files to job interviews; a mobile phone is sufficient.
- Chhattisgarh’s youth is becoming ‘global’
This scheme has completely bridged the digital divide between rich and poor students by directly connecting colleges in remote forest areas like Sukma, Bijapur, or Surguja to the national portal.
Through the “ABC ID,” Chhattisgarh’s youth are no longer limited to their state. Its credit transfer facility connects them to higher education institutions across the country. This isn’t just the digitization of documents, but a new “digital wing” for the dreams of 650,000 youth in Chhattisgarh.