NEW DELHI: Over 51.3 crore citizens in the country have adopted the digital wallet introduced by the Centre’s Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), said J L Gupta, Director, Digilocker. Realising the huge advantages it offers, the State Public Service Commissions (SPSC) in four states have started using the Digilocker platform.
A crucial part of the Digital India campaign, this Aadhaar-linked initiative is a massive step towards paperless governance.
Speaking to TNIE on the sidelines of an event organised in the city to launch the issuance of sports certificates via Digilocker, Gupta said, “This is a significant number and constitutes nearly 40 percent of the population. We never expected such an overwhelming response following its formal launch in July 2015.”
The SPSCs in Kerala, Bihar, Chattisgarh and Haryana have already adopted it and it has helped them save an enormous amount of time and effort, he said. “The Kerala SPSC was the first to hop onto the digital bandwagon a year ago while the other three states have adopted it only this year,” the official said. “The Commission needs to crosscheck the authenticity of multiple documents before the recruitment process is completed. From a time period of 6 or 7 months, the whole process is now completed within a month,” he added.
Realising its benefits, the PSCs in 12 other states including Maharashtra, Himachal Pradesh and Tripura are planning to adopt it, he said. From July 1 this year, Uttar Pradesh will be releasing all its Pension Payment Orders only through Digilocker, he said.
“The huge advantage is the documents are procured from the source of origin itself and hence its authenticity is assured. The Digilocker documents have a secure QR code too which can be authenticated online using the verification utility," said Gupta.
"Government organisations are keen to come on board the platform across the country with the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways issuing its driving licence and registration certficates through it. Prominent nationalised banks too are using the facility," he added.