India to harness blockchain to bring more transparency and security

[TusharMali99]

Last summer, the Indian state of Telangana revealed its intent to implement blockchain to mitigate the corruption and fraud commonly found in state and national institutions. Shortly before the announcement, the government of Telengana introduced blockchain solutions to its land registry and revenue departments in an attempt to clean up and curb pervasive bribery in the sector. Likewise, West Bengal will be using blockchain to streamline and simplify some of its administrative tasks, such as verifying legal identities and issuing birth certificate and other documents.

Now, Manipur state government is following the other states’ footsteps. They have just signed a Memorandum of Understanding with a company called Lynked. World to explore various avenues of blockchain implementation in the state-run systems. The partners are currently looking at several use cases, among which are general administration, medical record-keeping, education system, and digital identity cards

More info here: https://ambcrypto.com/india-to-harness-blockchain-to-bring-more-transparency-and-security/

[avikz]

Great thought but the implementation of blockchain in land registry and land related departments will not be very easy. Issuing birth certificate on blockchain is easy to implement because this department is not the cash cow for the politicians and beaurocrats.

However, any land related matter is the main source of illegal earning for the politicians and beaurocrats, so the implemention of a transparent system will face a lot of challenge from the department itself.

It will be great if they can finally implement it in order to reduce corruption, but such initiatives will be challenged at every step!

[amicrypto]

Great thought but the implementation of blockchain in land registry and land related departments will not be very easy. Issuing birth certificate on blockchain is easy to implement because this department is not the cash cow for the politicians and beaurocrats.

Agreed, but I think it will be a headache because of the existing mess in the land records. The present land records are haywire with millions of cases in litigation. For the land records to be on the blockchain we would need the correct data to begin with because of the irrevocable nature of blockchain.

However, any land related matter is the main source of illegal earning for the politicians and beaurocrats, so the implemention of a transparent system will face a lot of challenge from the department itself.

I don't want to sound pro BJP but the truth is that the present government is very far sighted in terms of needs of a modern nation. They have proved it in their 4 years of governance that they are out to implement structural changes in the way governance and bureaucracy is delivered in every aspect of life. Real Estate, Sales/Cutom/Excise which used to be big corruption houses have been made to dance on GST and RERA Acts which will bring the entire sector and taxation process in the formal economy. Plus, because I am involved with a few ministries I know what the situation used to be 4 years back and what it is now. I don't say that they have eradicated corruption. Your local officer, policemen, MLA and MP's might still be hands down corrupt but one thing that I am assured of is that the present government (At the top level-Ministry level) is very clean and has been implementing a lot of changes.

If there is any chance that India can have transparent systems and processes put in place, then it is the present government that can deliver.

[amishmanish]

Record keeping services are unlikely to benefit much from migration to blockchain technology. Most of these blockchain solutions mean that the network is owned by the Govt on a permissioned blockchain. That takes away the feature of decentralization.

 The only good use is for creating a money trail of Govt expenses. Right from the tax revenue to State allocations and down to the final contractor payments. Of course the governments would never submit to this. They want discretionary control over expenses. If the records of Govt expenditure are publicly available, it can greatly help with the corruption situation.

[amicrypto]

Record keeping services are unlikely to benefit much from migration to blockchain technology. Most of these blockchain solutions mean that the network is owned by the Govt on a permissioned blockchain. That takes away the feature of decentralization.

I am talking about a private permissioned blockchain for land record keeping. The present mess in land record is because there are disputes almost 50-60 years old. Plus people have forged fake records, Stamp papers, converted land illegally. Earlier the record keeping was not centralized and was done on a paper and validated by a stamp/signature of officials. By bribing or engaging with influential persons, one could easily get the records altered. I agree that this problem can be solved without blockchain by creating a centralized and tamper proof record but the trust factor will still be missing. Whereas if it is on the blockchain we can create a system that is visible and validated by everyone. It is not the record keeping but the collection of the correct record that worries me. Makes it a mammoth task.

The only good use is for creating a money trail of Govt expenses. Right from the tax revenue to State allocations and down to the final contractor payments. Of course the governments would never submit to this. They want discretionary control over expenses. If the records of Govt expenditure are publicly available, it can greatly help with the corruption situation.

Government expenses have already been digitized to an extent. The flow of money from Central/State government accounts to smaller recipients can be easily tracked. The main problem is the flow of money from the smaller accounts to the last mile. Suppose, Central government releases 1000 crore for UP govt for say irrigation department. UP government then releases crores for Jhansi Municipality. Now work is done but we don't have the mechanism to check the authenticity of work and payment. While Adhaar has solved a lot of problems but a lot still needs to be done. E-Auction and bidding is a very progressive move on the part of the government but there are still loopholes.
I don't think blockchain has much use for keeping money trail. We have got auditors and as the GST network reaches more viability we will see a higher formal economy. GST network makes it impossible for any organization to evade taxes and it is only time before we see high number of merchants and traders getting on board.

[amishmanish]

I am talking about a private permissioned blockchain for land record keeping. --snip--
I agree that this problem can be solved without blockchain by creating a centralized and tamper proof record but the trust factor will still be missing. Whereas if it is on the blockchain we can create a system that is visible and validated by everyone. It is not the record keeping but the collection of the correct record that worries me. Makes it a mammoth task.

There are too many points here. If it is a private permissioned blockchain, that means instead of a single data center, Govt runs its own blockchain nodes to keep the data in sync. It may be visible to everyone but it won't be "validated" by everyone. In case of private blockchains, the central authority can anytime decide on what is valid and what is not. Isn't this just a veneer of change?

Like you said, keeping records tamper-proof is not the issue as much as collection of correct data. This again is an issue too big for blockchain. It's a "ethics in civil authority" kind of issue. With our population and education levels, its hardly possible to put enough checks and safeguards that are accessible to everyone.
 

Government expenses have already been digitized to an extent. The flow of money from Central/State government accounts to smaller recipients can be easily tracked. The main problem is the flow of money from the smaller accounts to the last mile.

The same can be said for the land records. Also, I didn't mean having "records" of Govt expenses. The ideal, fantastical aim is for the use of cryptocurrency itself for Govt expenses. That makes the expenses open to public scrutiny. Journalists and citizens can look up where the last penny went down to the petty contractors.

[Titurnight]

Record keeping services are unlikely to benefit much from migration to blockchain technology.