Why JAM Needs Re-coding for Robust Social Protection

In her book Recoding America, Jennifer Pahlka recounts her experience co-leading the Employment Development Department (EDD) task force in California during Covid-19. Covid relief was delayed by weeks due to a backlog stemming from outdated technology and rigid rules.

- Rahul K Sharma

In her book Recoding America, Jennifer Pahlka recounts her experience co-leading the Employment Development Department (EDD) task force in California during Covid-19. Covid relief was delayed by weeks due to a backlog stemming from outdated technology and rigid rules. For example, minor name mismatches could trigger a manual review, significantly delaying relief payments. We are often surprised when we first read about such systemic failures in a technologically advanced nation. But this is a global problem, a combination of technological choices, government contracting modalities, and rigid administrative processes. At a very different point in our technological journey within government, we face similar challenges in India, as a recent piece about India's first Aadhaar recipient highlights; Ranjana Sonwane received her monthly entitlements only in April, after a wait of nine months, because of an error linking her bank account to her Aadhaar.

We are fortunately at an earlier starting point regarding technology in the Indian State; many of these systems for enhancing frontline welfare delivery are yet to realize their full effectiveness. At the same time, full-stack solutions are already emerging and have even matured across many states in India. The struggles of even a single citizen should motivate us to envision a more robust social protection system, especially given the maturity of supporting digital public infrastructure, such as the linkages between Jan Dhan bank accounts through Aadhaar and UPI protocols on mobile devices (JAM trinity).