What is National Skills Registry?

 The National Skills Registry (NSR) is the initiative started by the National Association of Software and Services Companies (NASSCOM), which is a leading trade association of IT & BPO industry in India. The initiative is aimed at promoting the interests of IT & ITeS industry by establishing a national-level repository containing authentic, permanent and accessible factsheet of career information and background-check reports of each NSR-registered professional. The National Skills Registry is owned and managed by the National Database Management Limited (NDML) which is awholly ownedsubsidiary of National Securities Depository Ltd. (NSDL). The NDML is responsible for administering NSR for NASSCOM.

How Does Nsr Work?

The NSDL undertakes the responsibility of conceptualizing, designing, implementing, managing, and maintaining large databases. To manage these databases, it also establishes a technology hub and a network of service centers across the country where users of the system can be serviced. The National Skills Registry is a web-based system comprising of a factsheet of details about existing and prospective professionals who are employed in the Indian IT/ITeS /BPO sectors.

The NSR is a platform that connects both professionals and companies who hire them and seek information for reference, hiring & client assignments. By registering with the NSR, professionals get a secure identity by having their profile created which will contain complete personal, educational, and career-related details. Employers hiring such professionals will have ready access to the profile of their prospective employees for credible & quick reference. It may be required in cases of confirmation of service, job promotion, foreign placements, etc.

NSR works on the following principles:

Each professional from the IT/ITeS industry has the right to register under NSR.

Each person must register with correct and factual details pertaining to qualification, experience, demographics, etc.

Every person can create only one profile under NSR with the persons identity and uniqueness established during the registration process.

To ensure authenticity of information, the registered person has the right to seek verification (certification) from a third party, present employer or any company authorised to access their profile.

Registered persons have the option to authorise an NSR-registered company to view their profile.

What is NSR Verification?

The NSR profile of a registered person will contain comprehensive details entailing personal, educational, and career-related information along with the photograph of the professional. Registered professional or a participating company authorized by the professional can request for verification of information. The NSR system would capture & store the results of source verification of details as entered by impaneled third party background verification agencies. Prospective employer companies must subscribe to use the National Skills Registry in order to view the profiles of the professionals in addition to the verification results, provided they are authorized by the particular registered professional.

What is The Use of the National Skills Registry?

Once a professional is registered under the National Skills Registry, he or she will have an industry preferred profile created on a central system with complete career details. This way they will have a secure identity and prevent cases of fake identities deterring competing job applicants with faked & inflated resumes. From an employer’s perspective, NSR helps in driving speedier HR processes involving background checks for confirmation of service, job promotion, and even foreign placements. Moreover, NSR eliminates the need for repeat background checks for each employee and thus guarantees faster joining formalities. By offering an NSR-verified resume, professionals can look forward to better career opportunities based on their credibility.

Is NSR Registration Mandatory?

There are a number of companies who insist on and prefer a professional who is registered on NSR. When applying for a job in a new company, job applicants are usually asked by HR to register under the National Skills Registry. Thus, professionals must register if they have time and provide their biometric data. Although, NSR registration is not a mandatory requirement it does have a lot of advantages, as explained above. Aspiring professionals must therefore go for NSR registration.

Will My Information Remain Confidential In The System?

A number of professionals are concerned about the privacy and security of the NSR. As a matter of fact, the National Skills Registry is a reliable system and holds the biometric data of approximately 1.6 million registered professionals, offering access to information to the subscribers or employers. Besides, being access-controlled by professionals, the NSR protects the interests of professionals but not allowing access to their profiles without authorization. The data in the system is entered by the individual and he or she can modify the same using a specified password. The information is verified by an impaneled background checking entity which is selected by the individual or employer. Also, the NSR portal has a secure log-in feature with one password to log in and one password used as a transaction password. Furthermore, a complete Audit Trail for all the relevant actions performed, Encrypted Data Transmission, and Strong Password Management Policy are other prominent features of the National Skills Registry that makes it a secure system.

How Can I Use The System?

The first and foremost step to gain access to the NSR system is by creating a user profile on the NSR website. This involves registering fingerprint data at the POS. Alankit Limited, a renowned e-Governance service provider with over two decades of industry experience, facilitates NSR registrations with timely assistance from a dedicated staff. Applicants should approach the Alankit representative who will help in creating a user profile on the official NSR website with a simple step-by-step procedure. Once a professional is registered, he or she will receive an identification number called ITPIN on their registered email. Using this number, professionals can access their profile and manage the access to their information. They can also update their information when the need arises. Companies can choose to subscribe and use the NSR without any charges, in order to access verified resumes for employment.

Originally published at https://www.alankit.in on August 14, 2019.