Blockchain for government:Digital identity, land records and other kinds of

record keeping between government entities

Blockchain:

A secure and trusted digital ledger with wide applications Current System
Blockchain System Intermediaries and independent record-keeping required to facilitate transfer of assets
and create trust
Distributed nodes maintain a shared source of information Susceptible to hacking or misuse as a single
source of truth is maintained across the ecosystem
Cryptographic algorithm and automated audit trail ensures data is secured, tamper-proof and irreversible
Real-time transparency across the network ensures trust Blockchain in Public Sector
Deloitte Analysis Blockchain has applicability in a wide variety of areas, including tax filing, voting, land
registry, healthcare, and identity management.
Though many use cases are getting explored globally, what most enterprises are struggling with is to
determine if any use case is a good fitment for blockchain and the corresponding business case. This is
where the Deloitte Blockchain Fit Assessment framework can help governments and other institutions to
take an informed and logical decision on the way forward.
By Dr Gopala Krishna Behara, Distinguished Staff &Lead Enterprise
Architect, Wipro Technologies

Blockchain is a digital, distributed and decentralized network to store

information in a tamper proof form with an automated way to enforce trust
among different participants. An open distributed ledger can record all
transactions between different parties efficiently and in a verifiable and
permanent way. It captures, manipulates and builds consensus among
participants in the network.

Each Block is uniquely connected to the previous blocks via a digital

signature which means that making a change to a record without disturbing the
previous records in the chain is not possible, thus rendering the information
tamper-proof.

The various areas where Blockchain technology can be used in Government

are:Land Registration, Digital Identity, Property Records, Schemes
Management, Agriculture Management and Electronic Health Records etc .
Trends of Blockchain Usage in Governments

According to Transparency and Market Research, the Blockchain Market

Revenue will reach 20 Billion USD by 2024. The use and adoption of
Blockchain technology is expanding at a rapid pace, all over the world, and it
seems that Government is the most widely used domain as of now.

Recently, Dubai announced that they would put 100% of their records
pertaining to land registry on Blockchain. Dubai Land Department (DLD), in
fact, has claimed to be the first such Govt. department anywhere in the world,
to adopt Blockchain for such high-level task.

Republic of Georgia declared that they would use Blockchain technology to

validate property-related government transactions.

Countries like Sweden, Honduras and others are also developing such similar
Blockchain based systems, for enabling secured e-Governance.

In India, Andhra Pradesh State has become the first state in the India to pilot
Blockchain Technology in two departments and plans to deploy it across the
administration.

Land Management : Current State of Land Management

Land Management is the registration/management of all land deeds undertaken

in any geographical location of a governing authority. Today, various
government departments and local bodies maintain these records. The
registration of land records does not authenticate ‘land title’, sometimes leads
to title disputes and Litigation.

In one of the surveys, it was estimated that 70% of the Land Owners are
vulnerable to manipulation by individuals or mediators with stakes who
challenge the validity of their ownership.There are huge number of examples
across India where land been grabbed by forging records.
Of late, there is an increase in complaints of irregularities and corruption in
updating of land records. Huge number of citizens either waiting eagerly for
corrections in their land records and passbooks for the issuance of passbooks.
In today’s scenario, the Seller and Buyer meet at the registration office, share
the physical documents in the presence of Registrar, and completes the land
registration. Most of the transaction happens through the exchange and
verification of physical copies.

Today the major issues with the land registration in India are:
• Unclear Land titles, leading to huge GDP lost
• Duplicate Land records
• Land records are maintained in silos, updating and verifying the records is a
challenge
• Poor recording keeping, most of the time stakeholders dealing with
inaccurate data
• Multiple Land Web Portals and no of them provide single source of truth

All the above facts demand the Government to develop a secured, tamper
proof, paperless and long lasting online solution to manage land registration
and land records as early as possible. Only solution for this is, implementation
of Blockchain technology based Land Management Solution.

Future Land Management Solution

Blockchain technology helps to establish trust, transparency and accuracy in

maintaining land records and building a robust Land Management System.
Implementation of Blockchain in Land records provides the following
features:
• Integrity
• Transparency
• Eliminate Intermediaries
• Speed
• Eliminate documentation work
• Minimize Fraud

The Blockchain enable Land Management System is a public ledger spread

over a distributed network that records every transaction associated with a
land property in an autonomous and efficient manner.

In addition, the Blockchain technology establishes:

Tamper Proof Land Records: Land Records are secure tamper-proof and
immutable. This reduces the scope of forgery or manipulation

Unified Registration System: Single digital platform removes the

bureaucratic silos and helps in driving greater efficiency and reducing
inaccuracies/forgeries.

Transparent Registration Process: Automate the process of registration

using smart contracts Dis-intermediating people that are vulnerable to falling
prey to corrupt practices.

Blockchain works by validating transactions through a distributed network in

order to create a permanent, verified and unalterable ledger of information.
The following diagram shows the end-to-end flow of the Blockchain based
Land Registration Process.

Benefits of Blockchain Technology in Land Management System

One of the major benefit of usage of Blockchain is the reduction of the cost of
storing the physical records about any land property. This helps in saving the
time and promote the transparency.

• Greater transparency, transaction histories are becoming more transparent

through the use of Blockchain technology

• Enhanced security, there are several ways Blockchain is more secure than
other record-keeping systems

• Elimination of error handling through real-time tracking of transactions

with no double spending

• Improved traceability

• Trusted record keeping and shared trusted process

• Increased efficiency and speed, reduction of settlement time to mere seconds

by removing intermediaries

• Reduce cost and complexity, Material cost reduction through the

elimina¬tion of expensive proprietary infrastructure
• Full automation of transactional processes, from payment through settlement

Other Blockchain Usecases in Smart Government

In Smart government, linking the data between various departments with
Blockchain ensures that the data realization in real time, when both the
departments and the citizen agree on sharing data. Blockchain technology
could improve transparency and check corruption in governments worldwide.
The other use-cases covering government applications such as election,
finance, Town planning, Revenue, Education etc explained below,
Election

Citizens can cast votes the same way they initiate other secure transactions
and validate that their votes were cast—or even verify the election results.
Potential solutions are currently working to blend secure digital identity
management, anonymous vote-casting, individualized ballot processes, and
ballot casting confirmation verifiable by the voter. Potential cost savings
through Blockchain-enabled voting.

Finance
Online identity has always been a time-consuming and costly process. There
was always this need for registration and financial services like loans,
mortgages, insurance requires always required a higher level of security,
checking, authentication and authorization. This usually meant that checking
official government identity documents was a required step.

One of the benefits of the Blockchain is that it has the potential to cut out the
intermediaries and provide every organization/department in the network
access to the same source of the right information. Blockchain technologies
make tracking and managing digital identities both secure and efficient,
resulting in seamless sign-on and reduced fraud. Users are able to choose how
they identify themselves and with whom their identity is shared.

Town Planning
Having property records on the Blockchain makes it possible that prospective
buyers shall verify the owner of a house quickly and easily.

Revenue
Seamless cross-referencing of documentations across multiple government
entities. All documentations automatically verified by the relevant entities.
The inherent features of Blockchain (digital identity) enables it not possible to
make changes to the ledger.

Grants
An Integrated Blockchain Solution that enables seamless customer on
boarding with automated Disbursements of Loans and Grants. Transactions on
the Ledger are auditable real time providing greater transparency for
Regulators. Highly Secured Digital Signatures that makes sure the transactions
are execute only when relevant provide their signature

Agriculture
Agriculture Management System with a Blockchain infrastructure ensures
immutability of data and a way to trace historical agricultural data as
agricultural products move from production sources to the consumer. IAMS
with a block chain infrastructure is a way to diversify current agricultural
management practices in a way that engages the public through ownership of
the agricultural production process. Other possible applications include the
use of Blockchain technology to record and manage agricultural land records
as well as agriculture insurance.

Healthcare
Digitization of health records is a significant task in the public health sector,
which is huge, complex and associated with ethical issues. Medical records
are scattered and erroneous, with inconsistent data handling processes.
Sometimes, hospitals and clinics forced to work with incorrect or incomplete
patient records. Blockchain technology can disrupt public health by creating a
secure and flexible ecosystem for exchanging patient’s electronic health
records. This technology could also make the space more transparent by
creating basis for critical drugs, blood, organs, etc. In addition, by putting all
medical licenses on a Blockchain, fraudulent medical practitioners, druggists,
chemists be prevented from practicing and selling drugs.

Education
Student records, faculty records, educational certificates, etc., are key assets
in the education domain and are be shared with multiple stakeholders and it is
imperative to ensure that they are trustworthy. Maintain all these records with
the application of Blockchain technology. Blockchain can also simplify
certificate attestation and verification.
public distribution system social welfare systems
The Public distribution system (PDS) is an Indian food Security System established under the Ministry of
Consumer Affairs, Food, and Public Distribution. PDS evolved as a system of management of scarcity
through distribution of food grains at affordable prices.

Fig: Public distributed system

How does public distribution system work?

Definition of 'Public Distribution System'

Definition: Public distribution system is a government-sponsored chain of shops entrusted with the work of
distributing basic food and non-food commodities to the needy sections of the society at very cheap prices. Wheat,
rice, kerosene, sugar, etc.

What is the importance of public distribution system?

The Public Distribution System contribute significantly in the provision of food security. Public Distribution
System in the country enables the supply of food grains to the poor at a subsidized price. It also helps to control
open - market prices for commodities that are distributed through the system.

What are the two types of public distribution system?

It involves two types, RPDS and TPDS. In 1992, PDS became RPDS (Revamped PDS) focussing the poor families,
especially in the far-flung, hilly, remote and inaccessible areas.

What are the features of public distribution system?

The the features of PDS are mentioned below: (i) It is used as an important activity of
the state to ensure food security to the people, particularly the poor ones. (ii)The prices
of the goods sold through PDS in fair prices shops is lesser than that of the market
price.
 What is the difference between PDS and TPDS?
TPDS (Targeted public distribution system ) is on "poor in all areas " and TPDS involves issue of 10kg of food
grains per family per month for population BPL at specially subsidised prices. PDS (Public distribution system ) is
the key element of the government's food security system in India.

What are the disadvantages of PDS?

 Limited benefits to the poor : Under the PDS, food grains are provided to the Nation Card holders only. ...
 Regional disparities : Large number of the BPL families in the less developed states do not avail the benefits of
the PDS. ...
 Urban bias : The transport system in the villages is not efficient.

What are the problems of PDS?

Some villages lack ration depots. Rations are regularly unavailable or insufficient in quantity (once or twice a month)
There is a lack of information on SMART CARDS. People Above Poverty line (APL) have been issued
Below Poverty Line (BPL) cards.

A blockchain prototype for the public distribution system is built using the help of node. ...
The blockchain prototype will record each and every transaction that will happen in the system and it will maintain
the entire history of the transactions from the initial transaction to the current time transaction.

Public Distribution System(PDS)

Introduction:
Subsidised ration distribution takes place each month to the ration card holders across the state under public distribution system
(PDS). PDS involves procurement from the farmers till distribution to ration card beneficiaries comprising different entities in
between such as central and state agencies, millers, transporters, shop owners and then finally to the beneficiaries.

A major feature of the PDS is the general lack of accountability down the entire supply chain, leaving the leakages that occur at
different points completely unaccounted. Blockchain technology can be useful in managing supply chain effectively using distributed
ledger technology. Entire supply chain starting from procurement till disbursement can be part of blockchain

Process flow:
Farmer cultivates the foodgrains which is then procured by the government under minimum support price (MSP). Millers identified
by the government collects foodgrains initially and then hull it (depending on the commodity) to be returned to government.

It is then moved to state godowns to be distributed to various block godowns. From the block godowns these commodities gets
distributed to various fair price shops (FPS) for beneficiary distribution.

Government agencies identify and allow the millers to register with them for the purpose. Farmers register with the millers to deposit
their produce and collect their payment under MSP.

A farmer gets paid under MSP based on the quantity supplied. Miller then processes these commodities to make it available at
storage points for further distribution. Miller gets paid for processing these commodities. Miller also gets paid for transporting them to
nearest state godowns. Fair price shop owner collects his quota from these storage points to be distributed to the beneficiaries.

Role of Blockchain:
Use of blockchain can remove at least delay in payment to the farmers based on procurement done by the miller. Since miller is
responsible for the collection and stock initially unless the transaction is approved by the farmer, miller cannot register the quantity
collected. This makes each transaction Non-repudiation.

Since calculation and payment must happen based on this initial data, data provenance (recording history of data) can be sealed
using blockchain technology. The decentralized distributed ledger makes all the stake holders refer to their local copy of the ledger
to make decisions and act accordingly.
 Certain activities such as payment to farmers can be done without waiting for the miller to hull them. Since the procurement season
is defined for each commodity, payment can start immediately without waiting for the other actors to complete their process.

This makes each transaction as non-time critical and thus eligible to be part of blockchain technology. Since farmer only interacts
with the government identified millers it needs not be part of a public chain where in transporter is participating in the network.

Current status of POC:

The POC application for PDS is developed as a python web application with three stakeholders namely miller, farmer and the Admin
user. The application interacts with the blockchain node and to the RDBMS and is deployed in Docker container. The POC covers
the procurement process of PDS which involve the miller registration with the government and the farmer registration with the miller.
The registration modules writes the registration details to the blockchain as well as to the database. The data updating modules
read the existing data from the block chain and write back the updated details. The super user module provides option to read and
compare the data from both the database and the blockchain which in turn helps to identify any data update anomalies.

Blockchain Cryptography, Privacy and Security on Blockchain

How does Blockchain protect privacy?

Blockchain systems use asymmetric cryptography to secure transactions between users. In these systems, each
user has a public and private key. ... It is mathematically impossible for a user to guess another user's private key
from their public key. This provides an increase in security and protects from hackers.

Is Blockchain really secure?

The whole point of using a blockchain is to let people—in particular, people who don't trust one another—share
valuable data in a secure, tamperproof way. That's because blockchains store data using sophisticated math and
innovative software rules that are extremely difficult for attackers to manipulate.

What are the prominent security features for Blockchain?

Although many features play into the security associated with blockchain, two of the most important are the
concepts of consensus and immutability. Consensus refers to the ability of the nodes within a
distributed blockchain network to agree on the true state of the network and on the validity of transactions.

What are the drawbacks of Blockchain?

Blockchain disadvantages: 10 possible reasons not to enthuse

 blockchains use excessive energy.

 blockchain is not a huge distributed computing system.
 mining does not provide network security.
 blockchain entries do not last forever or are not immutable.
 scalability remains blockchain's weakness.
 blockchain is not indestructible.

Can a Blockchain be deleted?

Blockchain comes with the concept of keeping the data or transactions decentralized.
This means all your data is recorded forever in a network of computers. Data, once sent
to a blockchain network, cannot be deleted or removed from all the systems.