Why first Indian to get Aadhaar can’t receive welfare payments

A photograph hangs on a wall inside Ranjana Sonawane’s modest dwelling in Tembhli village in Nandurbar district of Maharashtra. Sharing the frame with her are then prime minister Manmohan Singh and former Congress chief Sonia Gandhi. The date on which it was clicked is a national landmark, Sept 29, 2010. It was the day when the government started handing out the Aadhaar card, touting it as the game changer for welfare delivery in India. Alas, for Ranjana, the very first recipient of the card, all it brought were 15 minutes of fame. If only it would bring her the monthly Rs 1,500 that she should be getting from the state government. But that is another story. medium120406233Misery And MysteryOver two crore women in the 21-65 years age group in Maharashtra are eligible for the monthly disbursal under the Mukhyamantri Mazhi Ladki Bahin Yojana, the centrepiece of the Mahayuti government's welfare agenda. The money is paid directly into beneficiaries’ Aadhaar-linked bank accounts. Ranjana’s Aadhaar is linked to a bank account. But it’s not her account. So, she is not able to access the money that government officials say is being credited to that account.“It is linked to someone else’s account in a private bank. When I go to check, officials show me papers claiming my money has been sent, but I never receive it,” is what Ranjana has to say.Now 54, she remembers the elaborate function held 15 years back in her village. The centre of attention with her freshly minted Aadhaar in hand, little did she know then of the pitfalls that would hit her hopes of embracing a digitally empowered future.“Swept up by the occasion, I thought my life would change and government schemes would finally come to me. But though government gave me Aadhaar, it no longer supports me,” she says. 120406333The Rs 40,000 that the family makes annually requires the mother of three to work as a daily wager to supplement what her husband, 60-year-old Sadashiv, earns from selling toys. The couple has three sons of whom one has secured a job with a private firm while the other two are studying.“While I have managed to educate my sons, there is no one offering them govt jobs. We are getting old. How long can we keep doing the rounds of offices?” she says, adding that she has visited the taluka office “seven times this year alone”.When TOI contacted Nandurbar officials handling the Ladki Bahin Yojana scheme, they confirmed that while Ranjana’s Aadhaar is linked to a private bank account in her name, they have no idea why it does not reflect the Ladki Bahin payments.“The beneficiary would have to raise the issue with the grievance system so that they can stop the transfer. Unless the beneficiary complains, we cannot stop the disbursements,” said an official in the women and child department.Another official said the issue could have to do with her bank accounts. “I believe her two main accounts have joint holders, so the Aadhaar must have got linked to the private bank account. We have no idea that she does not have an account there. Maybe that account number came from the anganwadi sevika who filled her form. We will have to trace it,” the official said.Till that is done, Ranjana and her family can only look forward to vague promises and more running around. “Every time they promise to fix the problem, but nothing changes,” Ranjana said. A folder full of grimy and dog-eared documents and acknowledgment slips bearing testimony to her ongoing ordeal.One of her sons, Umesh, has made multiple trips to the private bank seeking help. “They repeat that it will be fixed next month. It’s been over a year now. The amount is going into an account that is not my mother’s,” he said, adding that bank officials have also advised him to visit their branch in Mumbai for redress. medium120406487Need For A BalanceRanjana is not the only one to be deprived of her Ladki Bahin benefits. Such cases are rife in rural and tribal Maharashtra. Absence of bank accounts solely in the beneficiary’s name and lack of mobile phones to track payments are the most common issues. Add to that, the existence of ineligible beneficiaries. A verification drive uncovered nearly 15 lakh of them, who together represent a misallocation of an estimated Rs 225 crore of public funds.But amid the large-scale cleanup, there appears to be no mechanism to identify genuine beneficiaries who have been wrongly excluded. State govt officials said that a scrutiny is on and details from all districts are awaited. But social workers pointed out that Ranjana’s situation is merely a reflection of a system that prioritises enrolment over service delivery. “What good is an identity number if it doesn't connect you to your benefits?” one of them said.Experts said the government needs to set up a more responsive and accessible system for addressing Aadhaar-related complaints, especially in rural areas. They recommend periodic audits of beneficiary lists and holding of digital literacy programmes for rural communities. Improved infrastructure for last-mile connectivity would also help.Asked about such cases, district collector Mitali Sethi said she would look into it if there is a specific complaint and stop the disbursement if it was going to another account. MLA Rajesh Padvi of Shahada constituency, of which Ranjana’s village is a part, did not respond to multiple calls made to him.As for Ranjana, she’s maintaining a resilient, if weary, optimism. “I still believe things will change some day,” she said. “But I’m no longer waiting for the government. My sons are hard-working and we will manage.”Photos: Mandar Deshpande