-The Indian Express "Delhi government has decided to stop aadhaar being mandatory for the distribution of ration, this was decided at the cabinet which couldn't take place at the Secretariat today due to protests," said Manish Sisodia. New Delhi: Amid a high voltage drama over an alleged assault on Chief Secretary Anshu Prakash by AAP MLAs, the Delhi government on Tuesday decided against making Aadhaar mandatory for the distribution of ration in...

-The Indian Express Biometric authentication by PDS dealers defeats the unique identity scheme’s purpose. An aborted scheme in Madhya Pradesh that relied on once-in-a-year authentication can curb exclusion errors. Aadhaar is in the news today partly because of security concerns and partly because of reports that the poor are unable to receive PDS rations because of failures in Aadhaar authentication. Here, we will focus on the latter with an eye to look...

-The Times of India NEW DELHI: With cases of denial of hospital facilities being reported, UIDAI has reiterated that the Aadhaar Act clearly states that benefits cannot be denied due to absence of an Aaadhar number or failure of biometrics due to reasons such as old age or poor Connectivity. In a statement, the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) asked government departments/ministries and state/UT governments to ensure that no essential service...

-NDTV 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...

-The Hindu Many States have initiated ‘reforms’ of the public distribution system that are hurting millions of people India’s public distribution system (PDS) is in danger of being derailed in several States across the country. Recent disruptions of the PDS have taken different forms, from compulsory biometric authentication to so-called direct benefit transfer (DBT). The consequences are alarming, but tend to go unreported. Biometric mix-ups Jharkhand is a prime example of this problem. By...