Outdated biometrics put scores of teens at risk of losing rations

THOUSANDS of teenage ration card holders in Tamil Nadu are at risk of losing access to subsidised food grains under the National Food Security Act (NFSA) as outdated Aadhaar biometrics recorded years ago have stalled their e-KYC verification.

- B ANBUSELVAN

According to official sources, most of the affected teenagers are school students aged 13 to 17 from economically disadvantaged families. Their Aadhaar biometrics were recorded five to six years ago when they were under the age of 10 and the system now fails to recognise their fingerprints, official sources said.

Similarly, beneficiaries above the age of 70 are facing verification issues due to faded fingerprints.

Despite multiple extensions of the e-KYC deadline, about 58.41 lakh out of 3.5 crore ration card holders in the state had not completed the process as of April 30, as per a response from the Union government to TNIE under the Right to Information (RTI) Act.

The centre, in its response, was non-committal on whether non-compliance would lead to the removal of beneficiaries from ration cards, which, in turn, could reduce the rice allocation to the state.