Meet blockchain startup helping Maharashtra government issue digital certificates to Gadchiroli tribals

Birth/death certificates, educational credentials, driver’s licenses, health records, workplace documents, property records, contracts… our documents seem to keep up with the years.

But in the world of digitalisation, the inefficiency of paper is strongly felt and the need to secure and manage documents in a better format.

The fact that important documents such as diplomas and caste certificates are of great importance for future jobs and government-funded benefits and subsidies means that digital storage must be secure, tamper-proof and transparent.

Enter blockchain technology, which offers a revolutionary platform to government bodies, the financial sector and educational institutions to keep sensitive data safe and secure.

Bengaluru based Zupple do just that with LegitDocits blockchain-based application that helps issue tamper-proof digital documents to stakeholders that can be verified from anywhere in the world, within seconds.

The blockchain-powered startup was co-founded by Neil Kevin Martis, Shesha Vishnu, Francis Serraoand Neelu Khatriwho observed the need for on-chain document issuance and verification system.

Earlier this year, Zupple joined forces with the Maharashtra government and began issuing blockchain “caste certificates” to up to 65,000 tribes in Gadchiroli in an attempt to stop fraudulent claims for government benefits for the disadvantaged.

The Gadchiroli administration reportedly aims to target 1.1 million economically challenged residents of the district through verifiable certificates.

“Gadchiroli is the district with the lowest literacy rate in Maharashtra and caste certificates are much more important than Aadhaar cards or other documents for local tribals. They are unaware of government-funded incentives offered to them. This was a pilot initiative to provide local tribal members with blockchain-powered certificates, says Neil The Decryption History.

dApp can be used by all document issuers – banks, insurance companies, educational institutions, governments, etc. – to issue tamper-proof digital documents that can be verified from anywhere in the world instantly, he says.

The journey

Neil and Shesha knew each other during their work as engineers for BEL. Francis, a relative of Neil’s, worked as a principal engineer at Qualcomm in San Diego.

In 2018, the trio decided to develop LegitDoc as a part-time project. It wasn’t until 2021 that they decided to launch it as a full-time business after noticing “how centralized document issuing systems were hacked and realizing the need for decentralized document issuing systems”.

“Online certificates are issued using centralized apps like DigiLocker. In 2020, DigiLocker compromised over 3.8 crore accounts and the authentication failure put core user data at risk. We felt that a decentralized system could solve the security problem,” says Neil.

Neil, Shesha and Francis started the startup with an initial amount of Rs 20 lakh. LegitDoc was originally designed by Shesha; Neil and Francis then helped develop the project further.

In 2019, the startup got grant of Rs 30 lakh from Government of Karnataka.

At the beginning of 2022, Neelu Khatria retired IAF Wing Commander and founding team member of Akasa Air, joined Polygon public blockchain-based startup as a co-founder.

Blockchain-based certificates

In 2019, the trio took part in Maharashtra Startup Week Challenge. The authorities choose from 1,000 startups 24 startups in 12 different sectors such as e-governance, hospitality, transport and others.

Neil says: “Selected startups get a direct work order from the government. We won the e-governance competition and got a direct work order from the Maharashtra government.”

The Maharashtra government had noticed the potential of blockchain-based certificate issuance. Generally caste certificates are issued by Sub Divisional Officers (SDO) and the process of issuing a certificate is long and tedious.

“To apply for a caste certificate, individuals have to submit all supporting documents. The process can take months as it first needs to be approved by the village-level talati, tehsildar officer, cross-verified by the revenue department and finally checked by the SDO or collector. The collector then issues a certificate, says Neil.

When a recipient visits a department to apply for schemes, a verification process is required. As the majority of individuals own a paper printout of the caste certificate, it becomes challenging to verify digital signatures.

Neil says, “In Maharashtra, the only way to verify the caste certificate was through the issuer that issued the paper-based caste certificate. These issues led the Maharashtra government to approach us for a project on how we could use blockchain technology to benefit for them.”

How does it work?

LegitDoc is distributed on public blockchains such as Ethereum and Polygon. The dApp is installed on SDO’s system, where blockchain-enabled cast certificates are generated.

The Mahaonline platform creates cast certificates in PDF format; these are uploaded to the dApp.

“dApp takes cryptographically important details of a person, including name, caste category, tehsil, district, tribe and others, and calculates the hash.”

In blockchain, hashing is a cryptographic process of converting data into a unique text string. Most cryptocurrencies, including bitcoin, use the Secure Hashing Algorithm (SHA 256), which ensures easy tracking of documents.

The dApp then generates a unique QR code consisting of blockchain evidence embedded on each caste certificate with digital fingerprints digitally signed by the issuer and published on the blockchain.

“This is a transition from a paper-based disposal certificate to a QR code-based disposal certificate,” says Neil.

Residents receive certificates through the Common Service Centers (CSC) which are already operational throughout the subdivision.

A simple click on the Gadchiroli website will display on the screen whether the caste certificate is genuine and pull information about the recipient to confirm that they are the same person.

In 2021, the start-up collaborated with Maharashtra State Board of Skill Development (MSBSD) and has issued one lakh diploma certificate in Mumbai till now.

Neil says: “By 2021, the government had issued a work order to issue historical diploma certificates for old students; it was a pilot project. But from this year, we have issued one lakh diploma certificates for students.” These are issued using the Polygon blockchain.

E-governance using blockchain

Governments and organizations around the world are realizing that blockchain can be the best technology for managing and storing documents and other records. It offers immutability, transparency and tamper proof, which can help prevent forgery and document fraud.

The governments of various countries, including Malta, Singaporeand Bahrainis already issuing educational documents using blockchain.

In India, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, Telanganaand Andhra Pradesh is at the forefront of blockchain adoption, according to the NASSCOM Blockchain Report.

In 2021, the Maharashtra government used blockchain technology to issue positive or negative test certificates for COVID-19. The Maharashtra government partnered with blockchain startup Print2Block to issue certificates to people who test negative for the viral disease.

Revenue model and the future

The startup works on one B2B SaaS-based model.

“We charge a one-time fee per document issued, and the amount varies based on the volume of the document we issue. The document can be verified any number of times; there is no verification fee. It’s free to verify anything on the blockchain,” says Neil.

The start-up’s customers are the authorities Maharashtra, Chhattisgarhand Telangana.

From July 2021, the co-founder says that Zupple has clocked the income Rs 60 lakh and is targeted at income 1.5 million dollars by the end of 2023.

The startup is currently working with banks and NBFCs, incl Poonawalla Fincorpand has entered into cooperation with Nangia Andersen India, a business consulting firm to introduce its dApp in the GCC (Gulf Corporation area). The start-up is in talks with The Government of Bahrain to offer e-governance on land registry systems. It is also in talks with private universities.

Zupple has plans to expand the team by seven members.

“We’re opening up our API-first services, where other customers can build on our API,” says Neil. “We are also in talks with companies in the insurance sector and the quality assurance sector.”

The bootstrapped startup is in talks with venture capitalists and plans to raise funds soon.