Eleven-year-old Santoshi Kumari who was died (killed is the right word here) asking for rice on September 28, eight months after her family stopped getting food rations from the government because their ration card was not linked to their Aadhaar, the biometrics-based 12-digit unique identification number that the Centre wants all Indian residents to have.
The child’s death in Jharkhand’s Simdega district has elicited official responses that verge on denial. Even the food supplies minster has denied that there is no Aadhar linking to ration card is required for getting the rice from ration shops. But we find that the denial is only to serve the media. The ration shops have made aadhar linking mandatory from April 2017
In February this year, the Centre made it mandatory for families to link their Aadhaar and ration cards if they wish to use the public distribution system. Between August and October 2016, Jharkhand moved towards adopting a ‘paperless’ public distribution system, linked to individual Aadhaar numbers. Activists have said time and again that the Centre’s move and states’ implementation of it goes against the Supreme Court’s order saying that Aadhaar cannot be made mandatory for welfare schemes.
HERE ARE SOME PROBLEMS OF AADHAR LINKING
“This is a common problem we are seeing in Jharkhand – even when people have an Aadhaar card, the authorities are not able to link it with their ration cards because internet networks are often absent, their servers are down, the technical operator is absent or the portal just doesn’t work on some days of the month,” Dheeraj Kumar, an activist with the Right to Food Campaign who was a part of the fact-finding team.
It also impossible to link aadhar numbers to ration card for many villagers because the name and age in ration card is not right always. In ration card there is no issue date and date of birth is not often mentioned. The age is usually mentioned as 40 years, 55 years, 60 years and so on, with no date of birth. This is more because of the laxity of civil supplies officials and also because the previous governments intention was to get the services to the needy, There wasnt much question on the validity, clarity of such details to get ration. But now the things have changed for worse for villagers. here are some report on who it benefits
After Aadhaar was made mandatory for rations in Ranchi, beneficiaries got only 49% food grains
Now the obvious question is who the 51% benefits. The 51% is sold on black market in almost all cases. in the cost of needy peoples hunger the black market thrives. The ration shop owners sell this to hotels restaurants and others with double charge.
So has AADHAR helped improve transparency, save cost? If yes on saving cost at what expense? On the expense of hunger? on the expenses of death of poor innocent children?
In short Aadhar helped Government save 9 billion from India's poor!
Look here: Mr Nanden NIlkeni who masterminded Aadhar claims that the Aadhar card has helped save 9 billion Rupees.
Yes Mr Nilekeni! indeed! But on what cost. by denying people rations? by forcing 11 year old to death? At what cost was the savings? And after all if Govt has saved 9 billion where does it go? Didnt it went to write off NPAs of the big in industrials? The loans banks gave in most of the case without much collaterals eventually end up as NPA. Than written off to clear the books?
Here is an another report as to say at what was the cost of the 9 billion savings for Govt. That is India fell 45places to 100th in the global hunger index - Reports the Hindu
So this was the cost of saving 9 billion from India's poor so that Government can lend that money to industrials.
India has a “serious” hunger problem and ranks 100th out of 119 countries on the global hunger index — behind North Korea, Bangladesh and Iraq but ahead of Pakistan, according to a report.
The country’s serious hunger level is driven by high child malnutrition and underlines need for stronger commitment to the social sector, the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) said in its report. - Read more at the above link
