Right from its inception in 2009, the Aadhaar project has been promising to weed out fake beneficiaries of state welfare schemes and pass on the benefits to the real needy, and without leakages.

Introduction of compulsory biometric authentication of all cardholders in the public distribution system (PDS) is a component of this ambitious, large-scale project. What this means is that beneficiaries get their ration cards linked to their Aadhaar numbers (it’s called Aadhaar seeding) and to avail of their due ration, they go to the outlet, use an electronic device for biometric authentication and take home the supply.

They get a confirmation of how much ration they have been provided through a text message. No signing or thumb print impressions on registers.