The National Conference on ‘DigiLocker-Enabling Paperless Access for All’, held this week, in New Delhi. The Conference brought senior government officials, leaders from the technology and financial sectors, educationists, and digital governance experts together. The conference underscored the transformative role of DigiLocker in facilitating paperless governance, inclusive education, and secure digital services, which is a critical milestone in the nation’s ongoing Digital Trust Revolution.

Organised by the National e-Governance Division (NeGD), Ministry of Electronics & IT at Bharat Mandapam, the conference provided a collaborative platform to discuss and showcase how DigiLocker continues to evolve from a simple secure document storage facility into a cornerstone of trust, convenience, and efficiency across government, education, and industry sectors.

The National Conference was chaired by Shri S. Krishnan, Secretary, MeitY. In his keynote address, Shri Krishnan highlighted India’s digital journey evolving from connectivity to capability, service delivery to self-reliance and now from digitalization towards trust as the new infrastructure of governance. He said, “DigiLocker serves as the trust layer connecting citizens, ministries, and departments—enabling secure, interoperable, and accountable digital governance. Our vision is a future where every digital interaction is trusted, every citizen empowered, and every institution accountable.”

In a special address, Shri Abhishek Singh, Additional Secretary of the Ministry of Electronics and IT, described India’s journey in technology-enabled governance as a ‘Digital Trust Revolution,’ highlighting DigiLocker’s pivotal role in building trust in governance systems for millions. He outlined the future of DigiLocker with AI-based eKYC and global credential verification, positioning it as a global model for paperless governance.

Shri Nand Kumarum, President & CEO of NeGD, highlighted DigiLocker’s evolution from a secure document storage platform to a key pillar of Digital India, enabling citizens to access, verify, and share IDs, financial credentials and certificates securely. He said, “The platform reflects India’s collaborative approach to governance and the trust and convenience the digital infrastructure offers to every citizen.”

As part of the inaugural session, presentations were made by Dr. Richa Bagla, Principal Secretary (A&T), Finance Department, on integration of DigiLocker with Pension and Treasury systems in Maharashtra; and Shri K.S. Gopinath, Principal Secretary (IT), Assam on integration of DigiLocker in over 500 services through Sewa Setu Portal in Assam.

States were recognized as ‘DigiLocker Accelerators’ for their notable achievements in adopting DigiLocker. Assam was honoured with the ‘Integration Excellence’ recognition for its large-scale implementation of DigiLocker across various services for enhanced security and transparency.  Himachal Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh both received the People First Integration recognition for leveraging DigiLocker to create largest digital identity-linked citizen initiatives in their States. Meghalaya received the Dual Platform Achiever recognition for integrating both DigiLocker and EntityLocker platforms. Kerala was honoured for Innovation in pioneering paperless governance through DigiLocker. Maharashtra received the Fast Track Integration recognition for its swift rollout of DigiLocker. Mizoram was recognised as the Requestor Accelerator for achieving the highest number of Requestor Model integrations.

Parallel breakout sessions during the conference spotlighted DigiLocker’s tangible impact across key sectors of Government, Education, Fintech and Value-Added Services.

Government and Education:

Shri Govind Jaiswal, Joint Secretary, Higher Education, Ministry of Education, illustrated how DigiLocker has transformed the education ecosystem in alignment with the National Education Policy 2020.Prof. Anil D. Sahasrabudhe, Chairman, National Educational Technology Forum, highlighted how NETF is driving NEP 2020’s vision through technology. Dr. Sandip Kumar, Director, Kerala State IT Mission, spoke about the State’s Certificateless Governance Programme. Shri Pravin Bakshi, Commissioner & Secretary, ITpresented on integration of both DigiLocker and Entity Locker in Meghalaya One portal. Ms. Rucha Mahale, Head, State eMissionTeam, Madhya Pradesh, presented on the Samagra / Single Citizen Database. Shri Vaibhav Mangal from TCS iONandDr. Mukesh Kalla from ICFAI University spoke about DigiLocker's role in enabling automatic, tamper-proof sharing of mark sheets, degrees, and certificates. Shri Ankit Jain and Shri Salil Arora from IIIT Delhi focused on expanding the issuer ecosystem for DigiLocker. Ms. Vinita Srivastava, Joint Director, IT Employment &Labour Scheme Verification, Rajasthan, presented on Raj e-Vault complementing DigiLocker as the State’s centralized digital repository. Shri Jaya Krishnan M. from IIT Madras gave a presentation on DigiLocker’s growing role in the education system and the risks thereof.

FinTech and Value-Added Services (VAS):

Shri Debajyoti Ray Chaudhari, MD & CEO, National e-Governance Services Ltd (NeSL) gave a presentation on PAN-based access to electronic Bank Guarantees (e-BGs) through Entity Locker. Shri Chirag Jain, Vice President, HDFC Bank highlighted the adoption challenges in the banking sector.Ms. Honey Jagyasi, Head, Digital Products, Edelweiss Mutual Fund, spoke about Edelweiss’ end-to-end digital onboarding through DigiLocker. Shri Shameem Jaleel, Director, Document Verification & Visa Processing via DigiLocker, gave recommendations for enhanced DigiLocker supportin visa processing. Shri Suresh Mutyala, Head of Digital Business, ICICI Bank, proposed emerging opportunities for DigiLocker. Shri Prashant M., Executive Vice President, Kotak Mahindra Bank and Shri Kirubanandan K., Assistant General Manager, Bank of Baroda,showcased extensive DigiLocker integration in the Bank processes. Shri Sanket Nayak, Co-Founder, DIGIO, gave the industry perspective on trusted digital infrastructure with DigiLocker.

The National Conference on DigiLocker was a testament to strengthening of India’s Digital Public Infrastructure through DigiLocker, not just a technological platform but an enabler of good governance. The Conference highlighted how DigiLocker is enabling innovation and securing digital services across sectors and reaffirmed the Government’s commitment to building a governance model rooted in trust, transparency, and technological excellence.

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Dharmendra Tewari\Navin Sreejith