A Parliamentary panel has strongly suggested inclusion of professional awards and degrees under a bill which seeks to set up a national academic depository to help students store and maintain their awards in electronic format.

The committee felt all kinds of awards -- professional or technical -- should be covered under the National Academic Depository Bill, 2011 so that students pursuing any discipline gets the benefit of NAD.

"The committee, therefore, strongly advocates the need for inclusion of professional awards such as medical, engineering, architecture, nursing, dental, chartered accountancy, company secretary and so on under the proposed legislation," the panel suggested in its report presented in Rajya Sabha today.

It said foreign boards conducting school leaving examination through recognised schools should also have the option to lodge their awards with NAD.

Supporting the contention of an independent authority for maintaining of a national database of academic awards, the panel recommended for necessary modifications be made in the Bill on the lines of the National Identification Authority of India bill, 2010 and SEBI Board constituted under the SEBI Act 2000.

Besides, he said authorities in higher education such as UGC, AICTE, CBSE could be made stakeholders for setting up of the national academic repository in keeping with the nature of items to be stored in the repository.