Maharashtra govt onboards blockchain tech for issuing COVID-19 test certificates

As blockchain enters the mainstream, Maharashtra government's Disaster Management Department has adopted the technology, in partnership with a startup Print2Block, to issue COVID-19 test certificates. The certificates are issued to people who test negative for COVID-19.

"We have been able to meet the demands of scalability and data security. Out of lakhs of people tested in the state daily, almost 70-80 percent are tested negative," Print2Block's co-founder Joji Varghese told Inc24.

Earlier, a number of news reports had suggested that the Maharashtra government was working with a public blockchain startup for the same. The government later clarified that they have deployed a private blockchain, not a public one.

Varghese said that as healthcare data "is very sensitive in nature", the company had to tweak their product and build a private blockchain for this purpose. "Now, it is the government who owns and controls the data, hardware and everything,".

Private blockchains require a public blockchain to authenticate and validate its integrity. The Chennai-based startup has deployed a private blockchain and has partnered with Mumbai-based blockchain startup Polygon's Matic Network, a public blockchain, for audit purpose.