• Maharashtra, one of the largest states of India, will use Ethereum Blockchain for verifying education certificates.
• The initiative is under the partnership between the Government of Maharashtra and LegitDoc.
• This step will give students tamper-proof diploma certificates and put a stop to forging documents and illegal business behind such practices.

In a significant development, the Government of Maharashtra announced a partnership with LegitDoc, an Indian blockchain startup, to implement an Ethereum-backed credential system to provide tamper-proof diploma certificates.

Although there is ongoing concern about the status of cryptocurrencies in India, the use of Ethereum blockchain in the education system has received a thumbs-up from the Indian Government.

To tackle the increase in document counterfeiting, Maharashtra State Skills Development Council (MSBSD) is exploring the potential of an Ethereum-based public blockchain.

In a statement, LegitDoc’s CEO, Neil Martis, highlighted that LegitDoc, the SaaS-based platform, will facilitate issuing and verifying digital certificates of Maharashtra State Skills Development Council (MSBSD) students starting next year.

He also said that he has active work orders from other local government authorities including, the Department of Information Technology and Biotechnology of Karnataka and the school education department of Telangana.

The Potential of Blockchain Technology

As evident, blockchain technology has started to transform the financial sector across the world with its innovative functionalities. And, the Government of Maharashtra realized its potential and wants to be the early adopters to implement an e-governance system with other entities like the Government of Malta, Singapore, and others.

Moreover, the partnership with LegitDoc will help the education system to tackle the falsification of documents through one of the most secure and transparent technologies of our time.

What Does This Move Signal?

As the students will get a “certificate_LegitDoc.zip” file consisting of the original PDF education certificate along with the proof from the Ethereum blockchain from the software, the verification and authentication process can be completed by present students or ex-students like employees, employers, or any other university.

The implementation of the Ethereum blockchain in the education system will help reduce the significant manual work of doing the same mundane and repetitive task with thousands of certificates.

Moreover, this move will also allow employees to work and focus on other priorities, ultimately boosting work productivity in offices. It is known to be the most cost-effective, eco-friendly as well as migration-friendly process for the students.