Transparency, exclusion and mediation: how digital and biometric technologies are transforming social protection in Tamil Nadu, India

Abstract

What are the effects of biometric and digital technologies on social protection for the poor in India? Drawing on ethnographic research from rural Tamil Nadu, this paper presents evidence of how new technologies are experienced by beneficiaries of the Public Distribution System (PDS), and analyses the impacts of technology innovations on transparency, exclusion and mediation. The authors focus on the implementation of 'smartcards,' new digitised and Aadhaar-enabled ration cards, introduced in ration shops across Tamil Nadu in 2017. They first document how digitised smartcards and mobile text messages transform transparency for beneficiaries by introducing new opacities and information gaps. They then demonstrate how a lack of transparency (re)produces forms of exclusion that remain a challenge under the automated PDS. Finally, the paper highlights how novel forms of kin and non-kin mediation play a mitigating role in accessing PDS, and constitute a vital part of the infrastructure underpinning social welfare delivery.

Welfare Reforms and the Leviathan State

“…A study based in two villages in Telangana which-based upon comparing land records and the number of beneficiaries-estimates these errors to be of the magnitude of 16-20% as land records often do not match beneficiary list prepared by the government (Thomas et al 2020). At the same time, tenant farmers, who do 39 See Carswell and De Neve (2022) for an anthropological enquiry into citizen-state negotiations created by smartcards, and biometrics driven welfare transfers in the state of Tamil Nadu, one of the best performer on welfare governance. 40 The delivery of LPG subsidies through the DBT route under the initiative, PAHAL-launched in June 2013 in 291 districts, which required the consumer to mandatorily link their bank account to receive the subsidy as DBT linked to their Aadhaar number-was proclaimed by the government as a flagship success in reducing 'ghost' beneficiaries and black market trading of LPG cylinders leading to substantial fiscal savings (Barnwal 2016;Mittal et al 2017).…”

Orchestrating a digital platform ecosystem to address societal challenges: A robust action perspective

“…Accessibility, privacy, security, and efficacy were raised as concerns with Aadhaar application in certain programs (Nishant, 2021). Systematic design flaws (Aaditeshwar, 2020) and lack of transparency (Carswell and de Neve, 2021) could also help reify existing structural and cultural inequalities that drive exclusion of marginalized people and groups in society (Krishna, 2020).…”

Degenerative outcomes of digital identity platforms for development

“…Hundal, Janani, and Chaudhuri (2020) compare the biometric PDS in Karnataka with the smart card system in Tamil Nadu, observing that the latter enables a digital record of transactions without incurring in exclusions from biometrics. At the same time, in a study of the smart card system in Tamil Nadu, Carswell and De Neve (2021) note the production of new information gaps occurring as smart cards are introduced in ration shops. Illustrating degenerations of digital platforms, our study invites research on alternatives that can avoid degenerative outcomes.…”