The death of an 11-year-old girl Santoshi in Jharkhand allegedly due to starvation following denial of ration to her family because its ration card was not linked to Aadhaar took a curious turn on Wednesday with the unique ID-issuing body UIDAI making it clear that the victim had Aadhaar and that the Aadhaar Act was “absolutely clear” that no one would be denied benefits for lack of the 12-digiti identifier.
While the UIDAI called for stringent action against those who denied her Government benefits, the Centre on Wednesday ordered a probe into the girl’s death by a high-level team headed by Secretary (Food and Consumer Affairs) Ravi Kant. The team will visit Jharkhand to investigate the matter soon.
Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) CEO Ajay Bhushan Pandey termed the incident as “unfortunate” and asserted that this was not a case of denial of benefits because of Aadhaar, as the family had the ID since 2013.
“The Jharkhand Government has ordered a probe in the matter to find out the facts behind the unfortunate incident. I expect that person responsible for denial of benefits - in spite of Aadhaar card -- will be held accountable and necessary action will be taken against such people by the State, so that it acts as a deterrent for future,” Pandey told PTI.
He further said that the Aadhaar Act was “absolutely clear” that no one would be denied benefits for lack of Aadhaar.
For his part, announcing the probe, Food and Consumer Affairs Minister Ram Vilas Paswan in a statement said that even after the implementation of Food Security Act, not getting ration for three months is a matter of concern. The Jharkhand Government has attributed the girl’s death to malaria.
“If poor people die of hunger, it is a matter of concern. We will be sending a central team probe the matter,” Paswan said. The Union Government will be soon sending a central team to probe into the facts of the incident and the state Government has also been asked to send a report in this regard.
In a related development, the Jharkhand Government has ordered a fresh probe in the matter and also announced Rs 50,000 as assistance to the girl’s family.
Meanwhile, the Jharkhand government has ordered a fresh probe in the matter and also announced Rs 50,000 as assistance to the girl’s family. The local activists had alleged that the girl died a fortnight ago after going without food for several days. They said her family’s ration card was cancelled for not being linked to the Aadhaar number.
Recently, an 11-year-old girl allegedly died of starvation in Jharkhand’s Simdega district because her family’s ration card was not linked to the Aadhaar.”I went to get rice, but I was told that no ration will be given to me. My daughter died saying ‘bhat-bhat’ (rice),” the mother of the girl said.