Blockchain
NITI Aayog, an Indian public policy think tank, has recognized the blockchain-based caste certificate initiative on the Polygon network.
While crypto has not yet gained mass adoption, the call from the National Institute for Transforming India (NITI) Aayog and the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) has given hope to the Indian crypto community.
75 Best Practices: Blockchain Based Caste Certificate
NITI Aayog and UNDP have jointly published a “Best Practices in Social Sector: A Compendium 2023 Report”. The report praises 75 best practices and policies that deliver sustainable development goals for people and communities.
Among other best practices, India’s top public policy think tank cited the Gadchiroli district’s initiative to issue caste certificates using the Polygon blockchain.
Last year, the Gadchiroli district of Maharashtra state issued 65,000 caste certificates for the Scheduled Tribe (ST) population.
Sample caste certificate. Source: Twitter
How Does Blockchain Help?
India grants specific privileges to individuals from underdeveloped and tribal communities, and caste certificates are used to verify eligibility.
However, some malicious individuals often manipulate government records to fraudulently claim these benefits.
According to the report, blockchain-based certificates help with:
- Simple verification of cabinet certificates
- Reduction of fraudulent incentive claims
- Improving privacy as blockchain stores the data in the form of hash
- Build more decentralized applications (dApps) using the Gadchiroli smart contract Application Programming Interface (API).
India has maintained a strict stance on crypto with its 30% flat tax on profits and 1% withholding tax (TDS). But the recognition has satisfied the community and raised hopes for mass adoption of blockchain.
Crypto educator Kashif Raza wrote on Twitter:
This is great news for the Indian Web3 industry. It provides good validation of crypto use cases for Indian e-governance, which is a significant departure from the social narrative that used crypto only for speculative purposes.