Soon, the payment of fee for various services offered by Mahatma Gandhi University (MGU) to its students will be made online.
The move comes close after the varsity announced that it will start sending question papers to its affiliated colleges online. The decision to switch to the digital payment of fee is expected to ease difficulties faced by students who now have to fill up forms and make payments at designated banks and centres prescribed by the varsity. The project is expected to start rolling from June.
The varsity has taken a cue from the directive issued by the University Grants Commission (UGC) that all universities in the country could switch to online fee payment. A letter issued by the UGC to Vice Chancellors of all affiliating universities on December 5 had pointed out that an important component of the campaign for promoting a digital economy was to ensure that every campus became completely cashless by adopting digital payment systems. The initiative, titled Vittiya Saksharata Abhiyan, aims at educating and training students in various modes of digital payments.
The IT wing of the varsity is in the final stages of preparing a software and allied systems for digital payment. “Students could make payments through their online accounts or using ATM or credit cards,” said K. Sherafudeen, Syndicate member and convener of its finance committee.
The varsity has also decided to issue certificates to students online from the new academic year. They could apply for it online. The online delivery will be made within a specified period. This is the first phase of providing all certificates issued by the varsity digitally. A system is being developed to ensure confidentiality and secrecy in the online delivery of various services offered to the student community.
