The All India Council for Technical Education has decided to allot unique identification numbers to three lakh faculty members and more than 50 lakh students pursuing technical programmes across the country. The aim is to bring in more transparency in academic and administrative processes.

The unique ID will be issued for faculty and students across institutes of engineering, management, pharmacy and architecture among others by the end of April. “We will issue the unique ID to around 52 lakh students and around three lakh faculty members by April-end across technical institutes approved by the AICTE. We have asked all institutes to submit data on all their students and teachers by March 31st,” said S S Mantha, acting chairman of AICTE.

The unique ID will be beneficial for teachers when they will apply for research, seminars and travel grants. They just have to mention their unique ID no instead of going through the elaborate cumbersome process of application.

The ID will also be useful when faculty members will apply for funds to start new laboratories or new projects.

The proposed Unique ID will help prevent unfair practices as well.

“The unique ID may also help AICTE to keep a check on excess admissions, if any. Besides, it will act as a deterrent to illegal practices like the same teacher working in multiple institutes,” said a senior professor of management.

For students, the ID will have to be used while procuring scholarships. They can also use the ID to download any software/service of the AICTE for free.

Meanwhile, the AICTE recently started SMS service for management institutes where they will be updated about their status of application through SMS.