Technology for caste certificates

The Polygon PoS blockchain model stands as a testament to innovative governance and presents the potential for widespread impact

- ANIL SWARUP

There was a serious problem at hand. The issue was to pre-emptively duplicates prevent and forgery in caste certificates, thereby, disallowing the miscreants and anti-social elements from misusing the caste certificates to avail any kind of benefits being provided by the government or any other organisation, apart from stricter safeguards on land-related transactions.

The target group for the project was primarily the 70 per cent Scheduled Tribe population (including a large number of Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups (PVTGs) such as Madia, Gond, etc.) in the two blocks of Etapalli and Bhamragad in Gadchiroli District of Maharashtra, which requires the caste certificate as an identification document to avail benefits of schemes designed for the Scheduled Tribes.

Etapalli Sub-Division began a path-breaking initiative of issuing caste certificates to its citizens which are cryptographically anchored on polygon POS blockchain which enables entities to instantly authenticate certificates with the help of uncensorable, publicly auditable data stored on-chain (on public blockchain).

The current blockchain implementation in Etapalli supports even printed certificates along with digital certificates. The printed form of blockchain certificates can also be verified using this new system with the help of a simple QR code.

As the first step, the project is being rolled out in the Etapalli Sub-division which comprises the villages of Etapalli and Bhamragad. Upon complete rollout, the system will prevent miscreants and anti-social elements from misusing the caste certificates to avail any kind of benefits being provided by the government to its citizens located in the sub-division of Etapalli. Within two months, around 65,000 caste certificates in Etapalli will be run through the blockchain system, a figure which will increase gradually.