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Physically hoarding documents, their multiple photocopies, cataloguing them and carrying them to wherever they have to be submitted are modern-day tyrannies that economic ecosystem subjects each of us to. Fortunately, the days of the need for such meticulous physical record keeping might be over with DigiLocker services being available for each citizen, The Economic Times has reported.

The accelerated move of the government that is quite unique in the world will enable citizens to apply for loans and get provident fund money into their account and get such jobs done – all of which required submission of a lot of documents – done in the future with all their necessary documents submitted from the DigiLocker.

The documents stored in this locker can be accessed in real-time from the issuing body. With this service the government and its agencies can directly check the data directly from the issuing body. The biggest benefit is that the concerned citizen need not carry it and therefore, the DigiLocker obviates any chance of documents being tampered with.

“Documents of income tax returns, EPFO statements and MGNREGA job cards will soon be available on DigiLocker… Making passports and voter IDs available is also a work in progress. This will make it easy to provide proof of employment, apply for a loan and get provident fund,” a government official told the newspaper.

The documents that have been most frequently issued to the DigiLocker are UAN card, Aadhaar card, PAN, insurance policy for two-wheelers. The agencies that most frequently issue documents to this locker include ministry of road transport and highways, Unique Identification Authority of India, LIC, Income Tax department and New India Assurance Company.

The digital storage of such primary documents that are needed for establishing credentials and identity is going to become essential very fast as financial transactions are increasing for the average citizen all over the country.

The official also said that the Department of Administrative Reforms has issued a notification that has stipulated that all government departments should make government documents for each citizen available on the DigiLocker. However, the service is yet in its early days with 17.4 crore registered users and 562 crore issued documents, claimed the report.

Organisations that need verified digital documents as a matter of course of their business can enlist as a requester. Government departments, educational institutions, organisations providing loans and other financial service, various employers, embassies and even law enforcement agencies are some examples of agencies that would frequently need documents, certificates and credentials.

The budget for FY24 also announced that a new service called Entity DigiLocker would be set up for the use of big companies, MSMEs and trusts to store and share documents online. Like the DigiLocker, these documents would also enjoy a great degree of security and immunity from tampering. The world of business can also share these securely with government agencies wherever necessary.