Maharashtra Government Appoints Private Company To Manage State’s DigiLocker

The government of Maharashtra is working swiftly on the process of implementing the ‘Golden Record’ scheme. This scheme registers all the data of citizens, including various certificates issued to them. The state government is appointing a private company to register and manage the Maharashtra government’s own DigiLocker.

The project has been named the “Golden Record” by the information and technology department (IT), which is in charge of carrying it out. All personal data, including date of birth, residence, and multiple documents from different agencies (such as caste, birth and death, and agricultural land), would be registered under this programme and linked to a unique ID. People will be able to access the certificates independently and won’t have to worry about them getting lost or damaged.

An official from the IT department said, “The “Golden Record” project received INR 294 crores from the state government last year. The department has now accelerated the project’s implementation process by appointing a private business. INR 250 crore will be paid to that private company. This step was taken after analyzing the scheme implemented by Karnataka. It is expected that the project will be completed in the next two years.”

The official also mentioned that, apart from working as its own DigiLocker for the Maharashtra government and citizens, this data will also be helpful for the state government to design and execute various schemes for the people of the state.

The “Maharashtra Unified Citizen Data for Digital Delivery of Services” project was approved in December 2021 by the then-ruling MVA administration. The project’s goal was to centralise all citizen data, including personal information and certifications they have received from various government agencies, into a single platform.

One of the biggest tasks in this process will be gathering the data from multiple departments and agencies, such as municipal councils and state government departments, and accurately combining it.