Indian state gov't uses Polygon to issue verifiable caste certificates

Published at: March 29, 2022

The Government of Maharashtra, one of India's state governments, has started issuing caste certificates over the Polygon blockchain to citizens residing in Etapalli village, Gadchiroli district, as a part of the Digital India campaign. 

In partnership with LegitDoc, a blockchain-based application, the Maharashtra state government is in the process of rolling out 65,000 caste certificates to aid the process of delivering governmental schemes and benefits.

As cited by Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer Shubham Gupta in an article co-authored by LegitDoc CEO Neil Martis, the caste certificate issuance via neutral web3 platforms aims to target 1.1 million economically challenged residents of the Gadchiroli district, with over 70% representing the tribal population.

Furthermore, the verifiable certificates aim to deter forgery efforts by bad actors to falsely claim government-provided benefits for the under privileged. The duo also spoke about the importance of Web3 protocols in protecting the general public against deplatformation — both financially and non-financially:

“In Web3, anyone can be part of the public blockchain network, but no single entity can control the network, thereby reducing the deplatformation risk by both internal and external actors.”

As a part of the initiative, the LegitDoc platform fetches selective data from the government-run MahaOnline portal and uploads it to the Polygon proof-of-stake (PoS) blockchain. The system then generates a QR code and certificates, which can be verifiable by various government departments.

For the first time in 65000 caste certificates have been issued on @0xPolygon network by the Maharashrta government.A big thank you to @MartisNeil founder @LegitDocIndia for convincing and executing the project.Thank you to our Young dynamic IAS officer @ShubhamGupta_11 pic.twitter.com/t00BZgWlrD

— Kashif Raza (@simplykashif) March 28, 2022

The Maharashtra government has previously implemented an Ethereum-based credentialing system to provide tamper-proof diploma certificates as a measure to avert document forgery. 

Related: Axis Bank issues financial contract on state-backed blockchain platform

Earlier this quarter, Indian finserv giant Axis Bank made use of a government-backed blockchain platform to issue a financial contract between two domestic businesses.

As Cointelegraph reported, Secured Logistics Document Exchange (SLDE) was developed by India’s Ministry of Commerce and Industry to serve as a digital document exchange platform that uses blockchain-based security protocols for data security and authentication.

The SLDE blockchain platform was used to a letter of credit, which guarantees payment upon conditions, between ArcelorMittal Nippon Steel India and Lalit Pipes & Pipes Ltd. Axis Bank president of wholesale banking products Vivek Gupta added:

“This transaction reinforces Axis’ commitment to lead the digitization in Transaction banking space.”
Tags
Adoption
Blockchain
Business
Polygon
Indian Crypto
Indian Government
India
Certificates
Related Posts
$2.5T crypto market will not wait for nations to onboard: WazirX CEO
Indian entrepreneur and the CEO of crypto exchange WazirX Nischal Shetty envisions a race between countries to launch their local versions of central bank digital currencies (CBDC) in the coming year. Speaking to Cointelegraph, Shetty said that the year 2022 would be an extension of the ongoing discussions around crypto regulations, exchange-traded funds (ETFs) and the emergence of the metaverse: “We’re optimistic that we’ll get regulatory clarity, see institutional participation fuel retail adoption. We also expect to see more metaverse projects making an entrance.” Shetty pointed out that the crypto industry today — directly or indirectly — employs about 50,000 …
Adoption / Dec. 29, 2021
Indian state government to accredit Web2 and Web3 blockchain startups
The state government of Telangana announced the launch of the India Blockchain Accelerator program to foster early-stage Web2 and Web3 startups and blockchain developers aimed at solving real-world challenges. The program will be launched in partnership with unicorn crypto exchange CoinSwitch Kuber and Lumos Labs, a technology innovation management firm. In a dialogue with Cointelegraph, Rama Devi Lanka, Director Emerging Technology and Officer on Special Duty (OSD), ITE&C Department, Government of Telangana, highlighted the state’s intent to adopt blockchain projects across multiple use cases: “Some of the interesting use cases that the state has already piloted in Blockchain include - …
Adoption / Dec. 20, 2021
Brain drain: India’s crypto tax forces budding crypto projects to move
India’s 30% crypto tax came into law on March 31 and was effective April 1, despite warnings from several stakeholders about its possible ill impact on the budding crypto industry. As predicted, within just a couple of weeks of the new crypto tax law coming into effect, trading volume across major crypto exchanges dropped as much as 90%. The decline in trading activity was attributed to traders either moving their funds away from centralized crypto exchanges or adopting a holding strategy over trading. Many crypto exchanges were hoping that a crypto tax would at least offer some form of recognition …
Adoption / April 20, 2022
India to roll out CBDC using a graded approach: RBI Annual Report
Further cementing India’s decision to introduce an in-house central bank digital currency (CBDC) in 2022-23, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) proposed a three-step graded approach for rolling out CBDC “with little or no disruption” to the traditional financial system. In February, while discussing the budget for 2022, Indian finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman spoke about the launch of a digital rupee to provide a “big boost” to the digital economy. In the annual report released on Friday by India’s central bank, RBI revealed exploring the pros and cons of introducing a CBDC. In the report, RBI stressed the need for …
Adoption / May 28, 2022
India’s central bank outlines digital rupee CBDC plans
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has outlined proposed features and reasoning behind its in-development central bank digital currency (CBDC) in a 51-page note published on Oct. 7. The country’s central bank is looking to raise awareness of CBDCs, which are being developed by a number of central banks around the world, and to clearly define the objectives and choices as well as potential positive and negative elements of introducing a digital rupee in India. The document summarizes the key motivations for the issuance of an Indian CBDC, highlighting trust, safety, liquidity as well as settlement finality and integrity as …
Adoption / Oct. 7, 2022