New Delhi, Sep 2 (IANS): The University Grant's Commission (UGC) has directed the universities across the country against printing Aadhaar number of students on degrees and provisional certificates.

The directive by the higher education regulator comes amid reports that State Governments are considering printing of full Aadhaar numbers on provisional certificates and degrees issued by universities, for subsequentuse in the verification of said documents at the time of recruitment or admission.

In a letter dated September 1 to all the universities, Manoj Joshi, Secretary of UGC said, "In this regard, attention is invited to sub-regulation (3) of regulation 6 of the Aadhaar (Sharing of Information) Regulations, 2016, which provide that no entity in possession of the Aadhaar number shall make public any database or record containing the same, unless the Aadhaar number has been redacted or blacked out through appropriate means," Joshi said.

"Under the regulations, as they currently stand, printing of the Aadhaar number on provisional certificates and degrees is not permissible," Joshi said.

He also said that the Higher Education Institutions are, therefore, requested to strictly comply with the rules and regulations of Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI).