A district government in Maharashtra, India, has started stamping 65,000 caste certificates through LegitDoc, a document-verifying system on the Polygon blockchain.
See related article: India releases ‘National Strategy on Blockchain’ for e-governance
Fast facts
- In India, caste certificates are used by marginal communities such as tribes to gain access to certain government benefits and subsidies.
- The Gadchiroli district government hopes its adoption of blockchain technology can combat fraudulent claims of benefits and incentives made through forged caste certificates.
- The district started issuing certificates online, and on its portal, to verify the validity of documents on the Polygon blockchain starting Tuesday.
- The caste system is a rigid social hierarchy in India, where lower castes often represent underprivileged and impoverished societies.
- The project is part of the “Digital India” initiative designed to study on-chain e-governance and will be scaled across the state of Maharashtra if deemed successful.
See related article: Indian market regulator asks depositories to use blockchain
