Calcutta University rushes to create academic bank of credit (ABC) IDs for UG students before June deadline

KOLKATA: Calcutta University is working to meet a June deadline set by UGC to get academic bank of credit (ABC) IDs ready for more than 3 lakh undergraduate students who took admission in the 2022-'23 and 2023-'24 academic sessions.

The ID is mandatory for a new system - considered a long-term credit storage - for students pursuing higher studies. UGC is set to conduct a nationwide survey in June on how many students have yet to get their ABC IDs.
"The process should have started much earlier," said a CU official, acknowledging that the deadline was tight. "Extreme staff shortage led to the delay," he said. "All colleges have been asked to reach out to students immediately to complete the process on time. An ABC ID is mandatory for every student for their higher studies, which we have already discussed with principals of all colleges."
The matter had been discussed with colleges, said CU registrar Debasis Das. "The colleges told us that they will complete the process by end-April. Everything must be completed by May, before the UGC survey starts in June."
Several college principals felt the process should have started much earlier, because a month was not enough to cover such a huge number of students.
"This is mandatory for every student under the new system, but it should have started a little earlier because we need to reach out to all the students of these two batches," said Asutosh College principal Manas Kabi, adding, "We must determine how many of them left the course or contact candidates who are irregular at college. We have put up a notice and circulated it through online groups."
'Passed on online links to students'
Calcutta University (CU) has prepared a banner and circulated it across all affiliated colleges.
"Since it is mandatory for every student, we have to meet the deadline," said Lady Brabourne College principal Siuli Sarkar. "We held an internal meeting, where we asked our students to immediately participate in the process," she added.
New Alipore College Principal Jaydeep Sarangi said: "The university has provided us with an online link that we passed on to the students, so that they can do it on their own."