The country of India is often overlooked in the world of cryptocurrency which is a mistake in our view as a country with over 1 billion people, with the majority of them living in conditions of poverty it would appear that there are few better countries that are better set up to represent crypto.
Recently, the government of Maharashtra has announced a partnership with LegitDoc, an Indian Blockchain startup, to verify diploma certificates. According to the announcement, the Indian-based blockchain will use Ethereum technology to power a credential system to authenticate certificates and eliminate forged documents.
The announcement was made as countermeasures to the rising document forgery in the state. India had previously placed sanctions on cryptocurrency, including Ethereum-based public blockchains, an announcement that was opposed by the Maharashtra State Board of Skill Development (MSBSD). The Chief Executive of LegitDoc, Neil Martis stated that forged documents are traditionally verified through manual methods. He added that next year the MSBSD will advocate the digital verification method due to the manual verification requests that have been inquiring.
The blockchain startup is supported by a few mainstream institutions including the National Institute of Technology along with Ashoka University. Prestigious institutes are in talks regarding the implementation of a similar verification method for counteracting the growing forged documentation issues in the state, as Martis added.
Martis also highlighted the interest of the local government authorities regarding the implementation of LegitDco for student communities. LegitDoc is supported by the government of Karnataka, the Department of Information Technology and Biotechnology, along with the government of Telangana, the school education department. The Indian blockchain company is in talks with the Higher and Technical Education department in Maharashtra to integrate LegitDoc technology for the student communities.
The chairman of the MSBSD board, Anil Jadhao pointed out the need for citing blockchain technology in efforts to curb fraudulent activities related to document forgery. According to Chairman Jadhao’s statement, the city has experienced financial losses and goodwill of stakeholders for at least a decade due to the increasing forgery of government-issued documents.
The MSBSD’s partnership with LegitDoc implies that India is now a part of the states that have adopted and implement an e-governance system in the education sector. Other states include Malta, Singapore, and Massachusetts.
An insider advised caution on the implementation of blockchain technology on verifying diploma certificates since the action will lead to its own set of unique challenges. According to the insider, blockchain technology advances in encryption and security, but it is still vulnerable to breach as other technologies while having its own set of unique weaknesses. The insider added that human actions or inactions might have significant consequences for blockchain security.
