Digital issuance of caste certificates for students launched by Assam Govt.

The Assam government began a scheme on Monday to issue caste certificates to schoolchildren electronically, which will streamline the procedure and advance the government’s effort to make public service easier. An official announcement stated that the “Mission Bhumiputra” platform and its implementation by the departments of Tribal Affairs (Plain) and Social Justice and Empowerment were both launched by the chief minister, Himanta Biswa Sarma.

Speaking at the event, Sarma declared that the introduction of the portal would put an end to the manual procedure of granting caste certificates. As of August 8, deputy commissioners (DCs) will provide the application form for caste certificates to headmasters of educational institutions. These individuals will fill it out and return it to the DCS, who will then send the applications to the boards or authorities of the relevant caste or tribe.

After that, the DC will call a meeting of the boards to discuss the procedure for awarding caste certificates to students. The application may be forwarded for additional verification if there is any uncertainty. The certifications issued at the conclusion of the process will be digitally signed by the relevant DC and made available in the Digi locker under the IT Act. The chief minister claimed that before the implementation of Mission Bhumiputra, people had to overcome obstacles in order to obtain caste certificates.

The Chief Minister’s Office will be able to keep tabs on the entire process thanks to this portal, which will also have a CM’s dashboard associated with it starting in the following academic year when pupils in Class 8 can apply for caste certificates, according to Sarma. He requested that this new endeavour be made known via the departments of Social Justice and Empowerment and Tribal Affairs (Plain). The chief minister further stated that beginning in class 8, steps will be taken to award certificates designating a pupil as belonging to the Economically Weaker Section to the students.

As a result of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s emphasis on “little government, maximum governance,” he added, the state government has been providing various public services to the populace in an efficient manner. Different services have been provided to the public transparently and quickly since the advent of digitalization. According to Sarma, this method has ended the threat of “middlemen.”