CERTIFICATE CHAIN
Several certificates issued by the government are essential for the citizens, especially for claiming benefits of various social welfare schemes. Some of the certificates are proof of ownership of assets, birth certificate, caste certificate, agriculturist certificate etc. Thus these certificates need to be stored safely and produced on demand to the authorities. In most developing and in many developed countries, these certificates are currently issued in a paper-based format. The paper-based format is subject to lose, fraud, theft, blurring of the print, etc. Hence there is a need for providing a fool-proof form that is digitalized and expeditious in obtaining the certificate
To circumvent the above problems associated with the paper-based certificates, National Informatics Centre(NIC) has proposed blockchain technology for digitally storing and retrieving such certificates. National Informatics Centre indigenously has developed the blockchain-based technology called Certificate chain and could be used explicitly for storing paper-based certificates in digital formats. The Certificate Chain ensures that the certificates are recorded in a secured, tamper-proof, and easily traceable manner. The main advantage of this generic Certificate Chain system is that the certificates could be accessed online by any authorised person / institution and be assured that it is genuine and non-tampered – all this without the need for a intermediary.
