26,000 Lose Access To Food After Delhi Aadhaar Move

Many of those who did not receive rations were told to come after January 15 as the government had declared it would introduce iris scan and one time password from that day to solve the fingerprint issue. However, till date there are no signs of it, leaving people helpless.

NEW DELHI: For 40-year-old Maya Devi's family in Delhi, survival has become a struggle as she has not been able to get rations for the month of January. The fingerprints of all four family members are not getting recognised for authentication in the Aadhaar Card-based electronic Point of Sale (e-PoS) device at the government ration shop. 

She is not the only one. These devices were set up in all 2,255 ration shops across Delhi from January 1 by the Delhi government in order to verify ration cardholders' identities by matching their fingerprints against the Aadhaar database over the internet and clampdown on corruption. Non-recognition of fingerprints and connectivity issues in machines have been depriving many of their rations. Many of those who did not receive rations were told to come after January 15 as the government had declared it would introduce iris scan and one time password from that day to solve the fingerprint issue. However, till date there are no signs of it, leaving people helpless.

Since each ration card holder is entitled to 5 kg of ration, Maya Devi's family of four has lost out on 4 kg rice and 16 kg wheat. These subsidised grains are a crucial source of nutrition for the family whose sole breadwinner is her husband, a construction labourer who earns only Rs. 5,000 a month. Maya Devi says, "I had gone to Shahpur Jat to get ration and they said my fingerprint does not match so I won't get ration. Then my husband took leave from work and both my children skipped school to go and even that failed so we didn't get ration. It is a loss... at the ration shop we could get 5 kg of rations at Rs. 45 but outside the same thing would cost us up to Rs. 200." 

While 1 kg rice costs Rs. 3 at the ration shop, the same is sold at Rs. 35 outside. For 1 kg wheat, the cost is Rs. 2 at the ration shop but in order to buy it from outside one has to shell-out Rs. 20. According to data provided by the Delhi government, out of the over 15 lakh ration card holders who attempted to withdraw rations, a majority of 98 per cent succeeded. But the failure of 2 per cent, though small in percentage terms is a huge number of 26,201 people.