India will issue digital certificates of education degrees in batches commencing from 2019. The project is currently being tried under the aegis of Niti Aayog, which is a government think tank. It will be executed with Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay, and colleges under the Delhi University.

Tamper-proof degree certificates would be the Indian government’s first blockchain project

Despite controversies on Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, the government of India is announcing its first implementation of the blockchain-based project as Tamper-proof degree certificates. Full-scale implementation of the project will start once the trials are through. A full-fledged blockchain infrastructure will be called “IndiaChain” and it will complement Aadhaar (identity number to all Indian residents) and InidaStak (a set of code developed on Aadhaar). After the implementation of this project, IndiaChain could find application in property registry in the event of issuing land titles and digitize records.

“Even though land titles on the blockchain was another implementation being in talk about. The process will take much longer as a lot of the states are yet to digitise their land records. Education has already in testing and is comparatively less complex to implement,” the source revealed

It will be a national project. The project will help deal with fake certificates and certificate fraud, which is common in the country. For instance, Delhi police arrested three men alleged of involvement in running a pan-India fake degree racket. A copy of an educational certificate that looks like an original can be available for less than Rs 2,000. The and the University Grants Commission (UGC) frequently releases lists of universities blacklisted for issuing such certificates.

The New Project

On the other hand, companies hiring several graduates to verify of certificates and transcripts of applicants, have to spend crores of rupees. The new digital project will make verification of the certificates quick via an app while avoiding cost occurrence. These records cannot be halt also since are permanently there on blockchain and creating individual blocks. However it can be possible with an approval of all parties engaging in the process.

Massachusetts Institute of Technology recently completed a similar project. In which 111 graduates were provide their diploma as digital certificates on the blockchain. Any employer willing to verify ownership and legality of the certificates can verify them using an app. Meanwhile graduates would see them securely stored on the blockchain.

MIT said the project could help prevent fake certificates and certificate fraud, which is common world over.

India has not been easy going for cryptocurrency projects in the recent past but said through the finance minister Arun Jaitley that it would explore blockchain.

“The Government will explore the use of blockchain technology pro-actively for ushering in the digital economy,” the minister said during presenting the 2018-19 budget.

However, there are few states in India showing greater interest towards blockchain technology. Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, and Karnataka are some countries that welcome government;s project built on blockchain technology. The project further aims to streamline business operation of various industries including power distribution, insurance, health records, propertly listing and others.