After SC verdict on Aadhaar, question for AAP govt: What of PDS, pension?

The AAP government had discontinued the Aadhaar-based authentication system, e-POS, from PDS in April in the wake of reports of people being turned away from ration shops because their fingerprints did not match with the ones in the Aadhaar database.

In the case of old-age, widow and disability pensions, the Delhi Cabinet had delinked financial assistance from Aadhaar, after it emerged that over 33,000 people were being deprived of their benefits due to issues ranging from fingerprint authentication failure to slow progress in updation of Aadhaar-linked bank accounts to National Payments Corporation of India database.

“We were forced to take the decision to provide respite to people. The banks were slow in linking Aadhaar-seeded accounts to the NPCI platform…,” Social Welfare Minister Rajendra Pal Gautam told The Indian Express.

Delhi government’s share in case of old-age pension is Rs 1,100 crore per year as against the Centre’s Rs 34 crore. The situation is similar in cases of pension schemes for widow and disabled persons. “In this context, restoring e-POS appears inevitable… welfare schemes can continue as usual as the Centre’s contribution is low,” an official said. Another official said it was too early to arrive at any conclusion.

Another official said it was to early to arrive at any conclusion and that the judgement was being carefully studied.

“The SC struck down some provisions, while watering down some more. We need to see what remains of the law. A considered decision will be taken after studying the judgment thoroughly. We cannot go by interpretations by the media,” the official said.