UP: 50-yr old woman dies of starvation after ration denied over Aadhaar

Bareilly: A 50-year-old woman allegedly died of starvation in Bareilly district of Uttar Pradesh on Tuesday after the family was denied ration as she could not be present at the ration shop for fingerprint authentication for Aadhaar.

The family of Shakina Ashfaq, who was paralysed, claimed that she had not eaten for five days and died of starvation as they were denied food under the Public Distribution System (PDS) for November. Shakina was named as the head of the family in the ration card.

"My wife died because of hunger. She was very ill. We used to take her there in a rickshaw. This time she was very ill. We begged the Kotedar (ration shop owner), but he said he would not give anything without the biometrics," Mohd Ishaq, Shakina's husband was quoted as saying by NDTV.

The Uttar Pradesh government has initiated an investigation into the incident. The initial inquiries suggest that Shakina died of illness, not hunger, the government said.

NDTV reported that its sources in the local administration refuted the starvation allegations, saying that Shakina had Rs 4,000 in her bank account. However, they failed to explain why the ration shop denied food to her family while insisting them to bring her for biometric identification.

Seema Tripathi, the official in charge of foodgrain supply in Bareilly, told NDTV that the administration had not issued any order, asking to deny food to family if the ration card holder cannot physically appear to authenticate his/her biometric data.

"We found out through the newspapers. She had an Antyodaya card. We are trying to find out the exact cause of the death. There is no provision of the government that people will be denied rations because of an Aadhaar card. We have alternative systems in place. If the person in whose name the Antyodaya card is cannot go, then there is a provision for other relatives to be given ration," Tripathi said.

On September 28, a 11-year-old girl allegedly died of starvation in Jharkhand's Simdega district after her mother was unable to feed her. The family was struck off from government welfare rolls for not linking their ration card with the Aadhaar card.