Prime minister Narendra Modi’s Gujarat has taken fancy to DigiLocker, the digital locker system launched by the government to securely store documents online. Gujarat is leading in users who have signed up to access the vault. It was launched last month.

The locker can be accessed by individuals and currently DigiLocker has logged in 58,698 users. Of these  9,526 users are from Gujarat and surprisingly Uttar Pradesh comes second with 8,299 users and urban Maharashtra occupies third spot with 6,711 users.

In the DigiLocker the government allows the user to create an electronic version of documents, which can be easily verified and stored in printable format. The users can store their documents such as insurance, medical reports, PAN card, passport, marriage certificate, school certificate and other documents in the digital format.

Apart from e-documents, DigiLocker can store Uniform Resource Identifier (URI) link of e-documents issued by various issuer departments.

The digital locker gives 10MB of free space for individuals to store documents and links of government department or agency-issued e-documents. The storage space may be increased to 1 GB.

How to sign up
To sign-up for the DigiLocker, you need to have an Aadhaar and a registered mobile number. Open https://digitallocker.gov.in/ or http://digilocker.gov.in or http://elocker.gov.in and fill in Aadhaar number and the captcha code. After clicking signup button, an OTP (One Time Password) will be sent to the registered mobile number and email-id. Enter OTP and click on “Validate OTP” button to complete the sign up and login.

What are the benefits?
DigiLocker is the national Digital Locker System launched by Govt. of India. 

Digital Locker of each resident is linked to their Aadhaar number. 10MB of free space in the locker to securely store resident documents and storelinks (URI) of Govt. department or agency issued

The storage space allocation will be increased to 1GB in subsequent release.

eSign online service to digitally sign the documents online without using dongle.

Sharing of e-documents online with any registered requester agency or department

Facility to upload e-documents in a standard XML format in the digital locker repository or repositories

and push e-document URI in the resident’s digital locker

Secure access to documents in repository or in digital locker.

It will minimize the use of physical documents. It will provide authenticity of the e-documents and thereby eliminating usage of fake documents. It will provide secure access to government issued documents. It will reduce administrative overhead of Govt. departments and agencies and make it easy for the residents to receive services.