Skip to main content

Starvation death due to lack of aadhaar authentication: Why is govt completely apathetic to the entire situation?

By Aparajita Sharma*
Govt’s drive on making Aadhaar compulsory is excluding millions and killing many. Why is the Government silent? The Right to Education (RTE) Forum highly condemns the tragic death of 11 year old girl in Jharkhand. She was denied of her right to food and eventually died of starvation because her family’s ration card was not seeded with Aadhaar number. The process got further delayed because it got caught in a tech glitch over Aadhaar.
Serious questions are being raised on the government’s drive in making Aaadhar compulsory. Why is this unnecessary hurry which is excluding millions of poor and threatening life of many including women and children who are living on the margins? Several activists and researchers working in the field have warned the govt on several occasion and the govt have carelessly paid no heed and on the contrary acted against the Supreme Court guidelines.
In its haste to enroll all citizens - of which children form a large untapped population - under Aadhar, the central government has issued notifications making Aadhar mandatory for most government schemes. This includes pensions, PDS, maternity benefits and more recently the midday meal scheme. This has led to death of many children due to starvation and hunger across the country. India is one of the countries with the “lowest reduction in hunger” in the last nine years.
The girl in this case, Santoshi Kumari, who lived with her parents at Karimati village of Jaldega block here in Simdega, complained of severe stomach ache and cramps and nobody cared to wait and listen to her. She died the very next day. She died of starvation or because of stark denial of her basic right to food and life.
Despite the Supreme Court Guidelines which have made it clear that beneficiaries cannot be denied access to welfare schemes, Jharkhand like many other states continues to impose Aadhaar on citizens even more stringently. There are severe threats of deleting names from the public distribution system (PDS) list if their ration cards are not linked with their Aadhaar number. 
This is a grave concern as the drive making Aaadhaar compulsory is turning out to be extremely inhuman and also indicate serious lack of readiness for the same. Despite reporting of such incidents the government is completely apathetic to the entire situation. 
Several ration shops in Jharkhand, Rajasthan and other states have been denying rations to eligible citizens by insisting on biometric authentication linked to Aadhaar instead of accepting people’s ration cards. Such severe gaps couldn’t be allowed for implementing a scheme. It is a criminal act on part of the Government.
From various surveys carried out, it is abundantly clear that the Aadhaar system, with the technology as it stands now, has failed miserably and has resulted in the poor and marginalized people being deprived of their basic entitlements. There are far more effective means of tackling corruption, such as social audits, regular monitoring, a robust grievance redress mechanism, which the government has failed to implement despite being provided for in the various Acts. There is also growing consensus that using fingerprint data for biometric analysis is unreliable in the case of children. Why is this fact being ignored?
Severe discriminatory and inhuman actions like these go against the ethos of democracy where people’s rights are supreme than the policies and schemes. The larger question is who is being served by these policies. It is certainly not the people.
---
*RTE Forum

Comments

TRENDING

How community leaders overcome obstacles to protect forests and pastures in remote villages

By Bharat Dogra  Dheera Ram Kapaya grew up in such poverty that, unable to attend school himself, he would carry another boy’s heavy school bag for five kilometers just to get a scoop of daliya (porridge). When he was finally able to attend school, he had to leave after class five to join other adolescent workers. However, as soon as opportunities arose, he involved himself in community efforts—promoting forest protection, adult literacy, and other constructive initiatives. His hidden talent for writing emerged during this time, and he became known for the songs and street play scripts he created to promote forest conservation, discourage child marriages, and support other social reforms.

Workers' groups condemn Gujarat Ordinance increasing working hours, warn of statewide agitation

By A Representative   At a consultation organised today by the Asangathit Shramik Hit Rakshak Manch at Circuit House in Ahmedabad, leaders of major trade unions and labour rights organisations strongly opposed the Gujarat government’s recent ordinance amending the Factories Act and the draft rules notified under the Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) Code, 2020. Around 50 representatives from central trade unions, independent unions, and labour welfare organisations participated in the meeting.

Deaths in Chhattisgarh are not just numbers – they mark a deeper democratic crisis

By Sunil Kumar  For a while, I had withdrawn into a quieter life, seeking solace in nature. But the rising tide of state-sponsored violence and recurring conflict across India has compelled deeper reflection. The recent incidents of killings in central India—particularly in Chhattisgarh—are not isolated acts. They point to a larger and ongoing crisis that concerns the health of democracy and the treatment of marginalised communities.

'Bengali Muslim migrant workers face crackdown in Gurgaon': Academic raises alarm

By A Representative   Political analyst and retired Delhi University professor Shamsul Islam has raised serious concerns over the ongoing targeting and detention of Muslim migrant workers from West Bengal in Gurgaon, Haryana. In a public statement, Islam described the situation as "brutal repression" and accused law enforcement agencies of detaining migrants arbitrarily under the pretext of verifying their citizenship.

Gender violence defies stringent laws: The need for robust social capital

By Dr. Manoj Kumar Mishra*  The tragic death of Miss Soumyashree Bisi, a 20-year-old student from Fakir Mohan College, Balasore, who reportedly self-immolated due to harassment, shocked the conscience of Odisha. Even before the public could process this horrifying event, another harrowing case emerged—a 15-year-old girl from Balanga, Puri, was allegedly set ablaze by miscreants. These incidents are not isolated; they highlight a disturbing pattern of rising gender-based violence across the state and the country.

The GMO illusion: Three decades of hype, harm, and false hope

By Sridhar Radhakrishnan  Three decades of hype, billions of dollars spent, and still no miracle crop. It's time to abandon the GMO biotech fairy tale and return to the soil, the seed, and the farmer. “Trust us,” they said. “GMOs will feed the world.” Picture a world where there is plenty of food, no hunger, fields grow without chemical pesticides, children are saved from malnutrition, and people live healthily.

The myth of population decline: India’s real challenge is density, not fertility

By N.S. Venkataraman*   India’s population in 2025 stands at approximately 1.4 billion. In 1950, it was 359 million, rising sharply to 1.05 billion by 2000. The population continues to grow and is projected to reach around 1.7 billion by 2050.

How natural and organic farming can be a key to combating the climate crisis

By Raj Kumar Sinha*  On July 9, while addressing the “Sahkar Samvad” in Ahmedabad with women and workers associated with cooperatives from Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, and Rajasthan, Union Home Minister Amit Shah emphasized that natural farming is essential for both our health and the health of the soil. This is a significant statement in the context of addressing the climate change crisis. Natural farming can play a crucial role in combating climate change. Also known as organic farming, it is a system of agriculture that can increase food production without harming the environment. Natural farming has the potential to reduce carbon emissions by 35% to 50%.

Indigenous Karen activist calls for global solidarity amid continued struggles in Burma

By A Representative   At the International Festival for People’s Rights and Struggles (IFPRS), Naw Paw Pree, an Indigenous Karen activist from the Karen Human Rights Group (KHRG), shared her experiences of oppression, resilience, and hope. Organized with the support of the International Indigenous Peoples Movement for Self-Determination and Liberation (IPMSDL), the event brought together Indigenous and marginalized communities from across the globe, offering a rare safe space for shared learning, solidarity, and expression.