BENGALURU: The past week must have seen some hectic linking across the country – link Aadhaar with PAN, PAN with bank account, Aadhaar with ITR, Aadhaar with Demat account, PAN with PF account, Aadhaar with Mutual Fund account.... It can be overwhelming, with the powers-that-be warning of dire consequences if they find any missing links. KYC recalcitrance can lead to frozen accounts and blocked access, and your folios and monies could vanish into the dark depths of the IEPF Account. That’s the tyranny of technology. Last heard, a magnanimous government had given three more months to complete linking accounts and identity.
But what will Kumudha link? She has neither Aadhaar nor PAN nor bank account. In her late 60s, the unlettered woman with a weak heart, an empty account and no Aadhaar proof, has no access to old age pension, PDS foodgrains, gas subsidy, or even her identity. When Kumudha applied for her Aadhaar, giving the government access to her irises and fingerprints, her phone number and address, she expected the slim envelope to land home. Years passed, and the colourful envelope remained elusive. Attempts to download her e-Aadhaar says her number is not registered, but is clearly printed on the application receipt. Officials have chased her out each time she has tried to get her crucial 12-digit number.
Hence, Kumudha is Aadhaar-less. It’s almost a rejection of her identity. The elusive Aadhaar has ensured that Kumudha is quietly excluded from the charmed circle of benefactors – she can neither get ration (Aadhaar-BPL card not linked), she cannot get free health facilities at government hospitals (same reason), neither LPG subsidy (no Aadhaar link), nor her measly old-age pension of `500 (yes, Aadhaar again). Even a Covid-19 test and vaccine are inextricably linked to whether you have proof that you are you. So Kumudha has fallen by the tech wayside, deprived of her rights.
She has reached out to the more literate among her neighbours for help, and they have also come up against a stone wall, assiduously built by babudom. No doubt, there must be a way out of the mess, but it is still not visible. Technology, the great enabler, has left Kumudha disabled.
There is more such tech trauma. A senior citizen who passed away recently, having taken only a single vaccine, was certified with a fresh new double-vaccine certificate. Automatically generated, posthumous. Similarly, a teenager with a single-jab status, was given second-shot Covaxin certification. No questions asked, no vaccine used. And no Aadhaar checked. Ah, the wonders of technology! While the virtual certificate does open doors to malls, movie halls, airports, foreign destinations and wherever else, it also leaves behind confusion of how to get the real syringe-and-vax second shot. Not that it holds much importance in today’s masks-off situation, but one never knows. In a world ruled by tech, best to keep everything linked and ready.