Maharashtra is one of the biggest states in India by area. Its capital city Mumbai is also known as the economic capital of India. Recently, the Maharashtrian Government joined hands with a blockchain startup called LegitDoc to issue caste certificates to 65,000 locals that would help them provide government schemes and benefits. This is happening for the first time in the country in any state although issuing certificates and documents on the Blockchain is not a new thing. As a part of the Digital Indian campaign, the residents of Etapalli village (sub-division), Gadchiroli district will become the first citizens of the country to get their certificates verified on Polygon, a public blockchain. This area has people from backward classes (economically challenged) and a lot of caste-based certificates are issued every year to support the locals so that the right person would get government supplies, reservations, and schemes. This news is quite exciting because now we have one more real-life use case of Blockchain & WEB 3 that has the potential to transform the Digital Identity and Documentation sector.
While the government sitting at the center is declaring crypto a gambler's choice, calling it dangerous and evil in the parliament, builders are using this technology to change the country. The Indian crypto community is criticizing the current Crypto tax policy proposed by the government because it can eventually kill this sector within the country. I hope those so-called "TOP Politicians" would learn from young dynamic government officials who are actually doing great work in the field to provide a better governance model to its citizens via Blockchain.
Blockchain Stops Forgery & More..
Neil Martis, CEO of LegitDOC convinced the local bureaucrat Shubham Gupta (IAS Officer) to use WEB3 technologies and blockchain to solve a major problem of forgery of these certificates. There have been cases in the past where locals made fake certificates to avail the benefits that could have been used for the people who actually need them. The underprivileged are deprived of their rights because of faulty governance and shrewd tactics played by scammers. It puts a lot of burden on the governing body and country as a whole because the weaker section remains weaker at the base level. They don't get the bare minimum support required for their progress and prosperity. Using blockchain-based digital certificates, these problems can be resolved with the help of code.
Moreover, a public blockchain such as Polygon is tamper-proof and verifiable. Once your certificate is issued, no one can claim the benefits except the rightful owner and no one can stop them from doing so. Anyone in the entire world can easily audit the public blockchain data to confirm ownership and that's the beauty of this system. The government in India changes every 5 years and the officials who work in governance structures keep on changing as well. The impact of such changes is faced by citizens because at the ground level rules are set by the local government officials. Now no one can contest your ownership because the proof is available for everyone to see and verify publically.
Amalgamation of E-Governance & WEB3
This is not the only time this Indian state government has used Blockchain Technology to ease out its operations. Last month they did a tie-up with another blockchain-based startup called Print2Block to issue Covid-19 test certificates on Blockchain to people who are showing negative test results. An issuing DaPP called Docchain.io is used for publishing these certificates on the private blockchain owned by the government. LegitDOC is also implementing a credentialing system on Polygon to provide tamper-proof diploma certificates to students to avoid forgery. Maharashtra is the pioneer in the next tech revolution in India powered by WEB3.
Several government entities in India and outside India are now upgrading their legacy system to Blockchain-based systems for data storage. Document counterfeiting is a huge problem in the world, especially in developing countries with high populations. Also, the resources and opportunities are limited in number and they must be used efficiently to benefit the community as a whole. It gets tougher to manage and serve all the people in the best and most democratic way possible. E-governance using WEB3 technologies can make the process much simpler, cost-effective, and transparent. Legacy tools used by governments all over the world are corruptible and inefficient in the dynamic world we live in. We cannot trust humans but can trust code! WEB3 provides tools to build a code-based governance system where one government official cannot screw it up for you if they want to.
Blockchain as Settlement of Authenticity
The financial industry has been truly revolutionized by Blockchain Technology after the introduction of Decentralized Finance platforms and services. We are only just getting started because blockchain has a use case in almost all the industries that exist in the current world. Anything that requires you to have a database, can use public or private blockchains to have a more efficient, faster, and cheaper data storage. I can safely foresee a future where enterprises and governments would use blockchain technology for the same purpose and as a database for the settlement of authenticity. Maintaining digital privacy at the same time is equally important. Blockchains can provide a settlement layer to provide proof of ownership without revealing personal information or any third-party intervention. These powerful properties would allow this tech to flourish in the upcoming years and we will get to see many more use-cases like Digital Certificates. What do you guys think? Is your government using any WEB3 technologies for e-governance? Comment below!
