In a move that indicates the Centre’s willingness to adopt new technology, the Union Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) on Friday released a ‘National Strategy On Blockchain.’
Allaying all apprehensions given that blockchain technology is associated with the yet-unregulated cryptocurrency business, the ministry aims at making India a global leader in blockchain technology.
The union ministry says its mission is to provide a “consensus-based, tamper-proof, transparent and open framework for offering e-Governance services to citizens and businesses” through this technology.
Countries like Sweden, Georgia, Japan, Ukraine and UAE have already moved some key government functions on the blockchain network. Singapore has also launched the ‘Singapore Blockchain Innovation Programme’ to strengthen its blockchain ecosystem.
India’s ‘National Strategy on Blockchain’ provides direction to State Governments, institutions and businesses.
Among the uses indicated by the ministry are storing of patient records for doctors, shared blockchain infrastructure to avoid duplication and e-courts where data from the multiple entities such as police, judiciary and the legal department.
The technology could be used in the pharmaceutical supply chain, e-notary services, blockchain-enabled e-sign solutions, farm insurance, e-voting, land registry, payment security mechanism, blockchain for urban development tracking through public-private partnership and document validation.
In fact, Reliance Industries chairman Mukesh Ambani in a recent address underlined the importance of blockchain technology. Mahindra and IBM are working together for supply chain management solutions and banks like Axis and ICICI are adopting blockchain.
Meanwhile, the government is also working closely with various universities to introduce courses in blockchain technology.
