Govt. of India’s First Blockchain Project? Tamper-Proof Digital Degree Certificates

The Indian government is getting increasingly serious about using blockchain technology to usher in the growing digital economy of the country.

Blockchain is a decentralised distributed digital ledger collectively maintained by a network of computers, called nodes. It resembles an electronic record book where all relevant parties have equal access. Data cannot be modified by one person, without everyone else who maintains the records agreeing to the change, which makes it secure.

Similar Story

Building Digital India: How One Idea Empowers 10 Lakh People With Lessons on Digital Future

Nasscom Foundation and DXC Technology have joined hands to bridge the digital gap in rural areas of India by establishing digital resource centres. Currently operational in 20 districts across the country, the programme has reached over 10 lakh people from marginalised communities.

Read more >

The blockchain-based solution, termed IndiaChain, will be used to issue digital certificates of education degrees, and the trials will be conducted with the Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay and colleges under the Delhi University, under the aegis of the Niti Aayog, the government’s policy think tank.

“The pilot trials will begin soon, and once that is completed, the full-scale implementation will start. The plan is to start issuing digital certificates on the blockchain (IndiaChain) from the 2019 batch onwards,” Factor Daily quoted a source as saying.

Fake certificates are a big problem in India, and blockchain networks promise to resolve this issue.

Large-scale cases of fake certificates have caused companies to invest anything between Rs 500 to Rs 1000 for educational background checks of potential employees. The costs, clearly seem a lot when the number of freshly hired employees goes up.

On the other hand, getting fake certificates is not much of a hassle in India. According to India Today, the University Grants Commission shut down two universities in three years for issuing fake certificates. Blockchains may reduce such tampering.

You may also like: IITians Are Creating Technology to Make the Lives of the Elderly Much Better

In addition to the educational certificates being issued next year, IndiaChain also plans to expand this project to land titles, health records, benefit distribution and digital identity.

Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, and Karnataka have also shown an interest in implementing this technology at the state level and in the departments of land titles, power distribution, health records and insurance etc.

Featured image for representation purpose. Source.

Like this story? Or have something to share?
Write to us: [email protected]
Connect with us on Facebook and Twitter.
NEW: Click here to get positive news on WhatsApp!