Biometric Biryani: Why under-5 children can’t authenticate that they’re starving

Last week, I stood in line at the neighborhood ration shop, holding my son’s Aadhaar card in my hand like a winning lottery ticket. Why? So, his biometrics could be registered so that he could be rendered technically eligible for his entitlement of rice, the staple that stocks most Kashmiri pantries. What followed was nothing less than a classic Indian farce of blunders, steeped in rice water and held together with bureaucratic glue.

“Jenab, Biometrics Ke Bina Ration System Mien Entry Nahi Hoti. Batcha Paanch Saal Ka Ho Jaye, Tab Karwa Lijiye.”

(Your child needs to be 5+ for the machine to recognize that he consumes.)

I looked at my four-year-old, tough I knew, we Kashmiris devour a plate of tehri faster than most of the folks can say the phrase “Digital India,” and wondered, so what does he eat in between? Hopes, dreams, and promises?

The UIDAI regulations permit Bal Aadhaar cards without biometrics to kids under five years of age. It’s great policy on paper, since babies and toddlers don’t really have extremely stable fingerprints. But here’s where the joke goes sour: if Bal Aadhaar card holders show up at ration depots, they get rejected quite often because the system requires biometric authentication. And without it, the kid is excluded from the ration roll. Consequently, many families, particularly in rural and semi-urban sections of Jammu & Kashmir, are informed that their toddlers are out of reach of the ration machine.

India has more than 8.5 crore children under the age of five, and a huge majority of those are eligible under the NFSA. In J&K, there are estimated to be 7–9 lakh children under the age of five and eligible under this category. But due to depot-level confusion, lack of communication, and come on, lack of effort, many are being deprived of the right to purchase subsidized food just because their thumbprint hasn’t entered the digital age.

Had Kafka been a Kashmiri, this would have been the title of his favorite short story:“A legally present child, standing in front of a loaded bag of rice, being told: “Come back when your fingers get older.”

Let’s give credit where credit is due. The government’s intention is noble, computerizing the public distribution to cut out fraud, duplication, and ghost beneficiaries. But the problem isn’t the technology. It is the blank faces in front of the biometric machines who have no idea of the rules, and much less clarity about what to do when faced with someone who doesn’t quite fit into their dropdown menu. The result is farce on an epic scale: babies going without food because their thumbs aren’t cooperating with the machine, and parents being told to “wait till he turns five.”

It’s the bureaucratic equivalent of being informed: “Sorry sir, your son isn’t hungry enough for the state at the moment.”

This would be funny if only it were not so tragic. Seriously, though, a humble proposal: why not include biometric training in nursery school syllabi?

“A for Aadhaar, B for Biometrics, C for Chawal denied.”

Even better, provide each with a stamp pad and rehearse making official stamps on ration shop walls: “I was here. I eat too.”

What is to be Done: An Appeal

To the

Director, Food, Civil Supplies & Consumer Affairs, J&K

Direct an urgent notice to all ration depots that: “ Under 5 children DO NOT require biometrics for food assistance. Parents’ Aadhaar-linked biometric will suffice for identification. Denial of ration due to non-availability of child biometrics is not a norm but a violation.”

To the

Hon’ble Minister of Food, J&K UT

“Establish a grievance redressal helpline for ration exclusion. Depot staff training should not be restricted to software, but also sensitivity.”

To the

Union Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food & Public Distribution

“It needs to be an all-India mandate, reiterating this simplicity. Add a snarky mascot if you must, a cartoon child holding a Bal Aadhaar, yelling “Main bhi khata hoon!”

Because in a country where we’re pursuing an e-dream of one trillion dollars, let’s not stumble over the rice bowl of a child. This is not a complaint. Not even a satire. An honest appeal by a citizen who believes this country can do better.

A child should never hunger because a fingerprint scanner could not detect his presence. And the next time you are at a depot, and the fellow behind the counter is scanning “rules,” tell him: “Biometrics can be voluntary before five, but hunger is not.”

Mirza Mohammad Idrees ul Haq Beigh is an Engineer, IP strategist.