Madhya Pradesh: Citizens unable to access welfare schemes due to Aadhaar glitches

Ahead of Madhya Pradesh Assembly elections, Netizen seems to have faced difficulties in access to government welfare schemes, Aadhaar glitches seen as the main cause. However, both the ruling BJP and opposition Congress party appears to have ignored this brewing discontent.

The Tribals, who are one-fifth of the Assembly constituencies in the state have been disturbed. The Shivraj Singh Chauhan led BJP party had won 31 of those seats, which are reserved for tribal in the 2013 Assembly Elections.

“Jamane bhar ke kagjaat banwane pad raha hain. Jitna kaam nahin usse jyada pareshan ho banwane mein“ (We are being asked for all kinds of paperwork. It’s too much trouble for the little that comes our way),” Shivam Thakur, a Gond tribal from Sakri village in Sihora Assembly seat in Jabalpur district, told The Indian Express..

Villagers around the Shahpura Assembly constituency in Dinsori district thronged to speak up the problems they have been facing owing to Aadhaar card glitches. They want their Aadhaar details to be corrected.

“They need clear matching of names, surnames, and dates of birth. This requires updating Aadhaar. It doesn’t happen in a single attempt. We have to travel several times to get the details updated. Even a simple thing like a scholarship for our school children has become an ordeal,” they told The Indian Express.

In addition, villagers said, whenever they make the journey to Aadhaar card centres to get their details updated, spending time and money, they find fingerprint authentication at banks failing, hindering access to their own money.

“There are middlemen charging 10 percent of the loan amount to facilitate processing our loan requests at banks. What is the point of having a 0 per cent interest farm loan scheme when we have to pay this cut?” Shatru Kunjam, a tribal from the BJP-held Niwas Assembly constituency said.

When they asked about the upcoming Madhya Pradesh Assembly election they said, “Abki baar Rahul Gandhi ke jeet ki charcha hai” (This time, there is talk of Congress President Rahul Gandhi winning),” asserts Nand Kishore, a Khorku tribal at Kalighodi, deep inside Satpura forests in Khandwa district,  who had voted for the BJP in 2013.

Also read: Madhya Pradesh Assembly elections: Congress still in driver’s seat, says Scindia