“In these districts, at least 31% of those who have not been able to seed their Aadhaar details with the ration card are children who are younger than 10. Around one fifth of those left out (19.80%) have reported that they have submitted their Aadhaar card, but it has not been linked with ration card and they are not aware of the reasons,” said Panda.

The survey found out that at least 12.42% of the individuals do not have an Aadhaar card. Of these, several had attempted to get an Aadhaar made, but it could not be made for various technological faults. Fingerprints don’t scan properly, and the internet signal is too weak for the system to function. Additionally, several senior citizens are unable to move in order go to the nearest Aadhaar Centre.

In one block in Nuapada district, three entire families have not been able to seed their Aadhaar details with PDS; in four blocks in Nabrangpur district, 17 families have been omitted from the PDS list and in three blocks in Malkangiri blocks, six families have been left out from the PDS list. This means that these poor families have not got their ration for at last two months.

Adding to the problem is that there are several women who are facing trouble linking the Aadhaar with the PDS because several of them took their Aadhaar card before their marriages, hence the names on these are different. “This means that the woman is not considered the correct beneficiary and as a result denied ration. This has happened in several households,” explained Panda.