Odisha: Poor Beneficiaries Still Left Out of PDS for Not Linking Aadhaar Cards

Nuapada/Bhubaneswar: For Ambika (41) and Basant Barik (46) of Kantapalli village under Gandamer panchayat of the Komna block in Odisha’s Nuapada district, this Diwali was more festive than usual.

The couple, which was denied public distribution system (PDS) rice for the months of September and October for not linking their 12-digit Aadhaar numbers with their ration card, was allowed to collect rice on October 27. With regular efforts undertaken by local activists, Basant and a few other families of the Gandamer panchayat, who had previously been left out, could receive their PDS rice.

Basant and Ambika have two daughters, 15-year-old Dubanti and 13-year-old Aaila. Previously, before the linking of Aadhaar numbers became mandatory, Basant was getting 20 kg rice per month. According to him, in the first week of September, when he went to the Gandamer panchayat office to collect his regular PDS rice, he was dismissed.

“When I asked, the supplier replied saying that due to non-linking of our Aadhaar number, nothing is showing in PoS (point of sale) machine,” said Basant. He regularly went to the panchayat office and pleaded before the supplier (jogan sahayak) to provide him with their quota of ration for the months of September and October, which he was denied access to. Since the Aadhaar number of his younger daughter was not linked to the ration card, the supplier refused to provide rice to the entire family.

Basant said that earlier, linking only one person’s Aadhaar number (who possesses the ration card) was enough to receive the PDS rice. His ordeal began after the state government implemented the Centre’s ‘one nation one ration card’ programme in September, making it mandatory to link the Aadhaar numbers of all family members to the online database.

Also read: Centre Announces ‘One Nation, One Ration Card’ Plan for PDS Beneficiaries

Basant’s daughter Aaila has an Aadhaar number but it was not linked to the ration card. He went to the panchayat office many times to enquire about his younger daughter’s Aadhaar number and how to link it with the PDS ration card, but he was not given any satisfying answer. “Rather they refused to provide rations to the whole family,” said Basant.

Basant has no agricultural land and he continues his traditional work as a barber to earn a livelihood for himself and his family. He receives grains (paddy) and some money as remuneration to sustain his family. As per the NFSA (National Food Security Act) 2013 every person of a family receives 5 kg rice.

Up until August, Basant’s family was getting 20 kg rice per month. That amount was not sufficient as most poor households in remote villages consume rice three times everyday. The subsidised PDS rice is consumed with onion, salt, locally procured vegetables and pickle.

“When he was denied PDS rice, it became difficult for him to feed the family with his meagre income. If they are denied PDS rice, it creates more hunger and poverty. They should not be deprived of their right to food,” said social worker Sambhu Sahoo, who helped Basant and eight other families get access to their PDS rice.

The Odisha government’s Food Supply and Consumer Welfare Department made the linking of Aadhaar number with PDS mandatory for all beneficiaries covered under the NFSA. The last date set by the government for linking Aadhaar numbers with ration cards was September 15, 2019. Data released by the government on September 16 revealed that around 3.07 crore beneficiaries out of 3.26 crore persons linked their Aadhaar numbers to receive PDS rice leaving 19 lakh beneficiaries completely out of the list. These beneficiaries were denied from receiving their quota of rice for two months.

Ullasabai Paharia (53), an OBC woman from Gandamer village in Komna block, has a family of six. The family has no agricultural land and the couple depend on making bamboo baskets for their livelihood. Due to non-linking of Aadhaar number of three members with their ration card, the family is allowed to receive only 15 kg rice instead of their regular quota.

Most of these beneficiaries, including Basant and Ullasabai, had submitted their Aadhaar numbers to the concerned dealer but were clueless as to why their numbers were not linked with their ration cards. “The jogan sahayaks are citing issues of poor connectivity, but it is their careless attitude of not linking the numbers in time that caused poor beneficiaries to suffer,” said Sambhu.

Also read: Linking Aadhaar With PDS Has Left Some of India’s Most Marginalised Hungry

Inability to link Aadhaar numbers

According to a survey conducted by the Odisha Khadya Adhikar Abhijan (OKAA), an informal network working on issues of right to food and nutrition, the Aadhaar cards of 574 out of 1,626 members of 348 households in 38 panchayats of eight blocks in Nabarangpur, Nuapada and Malkangiri districts are not seeded with ration cards and, as a result, the people have been denied their food grain entitlements for the months of September and October.

Around 31% of individuals whose ration cards were not seeded with the Aadhaar numbers were children of less than 10 years. Basant’s daughter Aaila was amongst those children whose Aadhaar number had not been linked.

Sameet Panda, convener of Odisha’s Right to Food Chapter and a part of this survey team, said, “We found that a large number of children, elderly and disabled are yet to receive their Aadhaar numbers for different reasons: the biometric devices at the enrolment centre were unable to read their fingerprints, the Aadhaar enrolment centres were far from their villages and difficult to reach for the elderly and disabled. But the plight is that their food grain entitlement has been stopped for these two months without any notice or prior information.” Though there is a procedure for informing beneficiaries, it was not followed in the case of marginalised sections.

Also read: Don’t Fall For Aadhaar and Biometric-Based PDS Reforms, Academics Tell Nitish Kumar

To increase awareness about the situation, OKAA has handed over a letter to Sipra Mallick, member of the Odisha State Food Commission. “As media has quoted 19 lakh bogus beneficiaries, we demand that the government release detailed information of all the beneficiaries of different districts and make it public so that things can be cleared and the genuine beneficiaries, who had been denied their ration, be brought back,” said Sameet.

Government’s response to this issue

However, M.Q. Haque, joint secretary, Food Supply and Consumer Welfare Department, government of Odisha, denied all the charges and said that food grain entitlements were given to those whose Aadhaar numbers were linked with PDS ration cards.

He disagreed that entitlement was being stopped for entire families if one person’s Aadhaar number was not linked with a ration card. “The linking process is still continuing, those whose number is not linked they can inform to block office or supply inspector they will take care. If still they are denied they can contact us in our helpline number,” said the joint secretary. An informal source said there are lakhs of applications still pending for approval at Ration Card Management System (RCMS) points set up at different blocks.

Sandeep Patnaik, a researcher and rights-based activist working in Odisha, who recently visited a few PVTGs (particularly vulnerable tribal groups) in different parts of Odisha, found that in some places, a few deserving beneficiaries were being denied ration on the grounds of non-linking of Aadhaar cards.

Also read: Even in Delhi, Basing PDS on Aadhaar is Denying Many the Right to Food

He said, “Due to lack of transparency, deserving beneficiaries are being deprived of their right to food.” He suggested following the directions of the Supreme Court, that if beneficiaries were unable to produce an Aadhaar number, the benefits have to be given to them after verifying their identity via any other documents.

While Basant and eight other families of the Gandamer panchayat have now received their PDS rice due to consistent efforts by social activists, there are hundreds of families in remote villages who are being denied of their entitlement.