INDIA (Commonwealth Union)_The most populous state in India, Uttar Pradesh, has police in the Firozabad area, who have announced a project to post public complaints on a blockchain.
The project is the first of its sort in India and is powered by Polygon, a scaling tool that exploits the Ethereum blockchain to enable less expensive crypto transactions. Users of the “police complaint on blockchain” service will not be charged to submit complaints or grievances, and it supports both Hindi and English. The status of the case may be checked, the assigned officer can be found and alerts regarding the development of a complaint can be received.
In India, filing police complaints has historically been a complicated procedure hampered by corruption, lengthy bureaucratic processes, and retractions from complainants. There have been occasions where complainants were coerced or pressured into changing their initial complaints, and officers are known to reduce their caseloads by refusing to record crime complaints. Due in part to delays brought on by the coronavirus pandemic, India has more than 40 million court cases that are still waiting.
According to Ashish Tiwari, senior superintendent of police for the Firozabad Police, once a complaint has been submitted, it cannot be altered or deleted. “We felt that this technology was necessary. There will be QR codes at local police stations that may be scanned to finish the complaint form.”
Ankur Rakhi Sinha, the creator of AirChains, a Web3 software development platform, created the portal with assistance from the police district’s smart cell, a team of officers within police departments outfitted and familiar with the most recent technology to combat crime.
According to Tiwari, the police would determine whether an inquiry is necessary within seven days of the complaint being made. “Every complaint will be examined and if it is viable then a FIR will be registered,” he said. According to a local news story, similar projects are planned for other Indian states such as Delhi, West Bengal, Assam, and Chhattisgarh.
In an effort to halt bogus claims on government benefits for the poor, officials in India have also distributed blockchain “caste certificates” to as many as 65,000 tribal individuals in a rural area.
