One month old baby gets blockchain secured birth certificate in Bengal

One month old baby gets blockchain secured birth certificate in Bengal

In a first in India, Divit Biyani, a month-old baby from Kolkata became the first one to receive a blockchain secured birth certificate in the state of West Bengal. The certificate that was even showcased at the two-day blockchain congress in the city was issued by the New Town Kolkata Development Authority (NKDA), reported TOI.

The hi-tech birth certificate was received by Divit’s father, who owns a start-up named Super Procure. He told TOI, “It is good that the government is implementing new technology like blockchain to secure information and prevent manual manipulation.”

The blockchain is an incorruptible digital ledger or register, that can be programmed to record not just financial transactions but virtually everything of value. Initially, the technology was brought in for supporting digital currency – the Bitcoin. However, now the technology industry is finding other potential use of the technology.

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In this case, the blockchains will have virtual blocks of information created with a person’s date of birth. It will be stored in a decentralised ledge and shared with a person when needed.

While explaining the difference between a normal birth certificate and blockchain secure birth certificate, the additional chief secretary of the Department of Information Technology and Education and NKDA chairman told TOI, that the blockchain based certificate will be immune from cyber attacks due to the multi-level encryption the technology requires.

Two other Municipal Corporations in Bengal – Bankura and Durgapur, have also embraced the new technology to issue birth certificates, states media reports.