Thiruvananthapuram: Issues of finger print scanning in ration shops are causing problems in Adivasi areas in Wayanad with many Adivasi families being denied food. The issues have been complicated by the fact that the families find it difficult to get employment due to the heavy rainfall forcing them into poverty, Manglu Sreedhar an activist from the Adviasi community told Deccan Chronicle. The issues with finger print scanning are adding to the woes of the Adivasis, said Ms Sreedhar.
Fingerprint-scanners encounter problems because of a glitch in the government servers. This is severe in remote areas with connectivity problems. Many of the Adivasi areas have connectivity issues, sources said. The problem with the three servers is compounded with glitches with biometric machines. Old persons and manual labourers who have calloused hands record weak fingerprints that do not register with biometric-scanners, sources said.
For those without Aadhaar cards, enrolment ID numbers are sought and these are entered in the network at the FPS outlet for the cardholder to get a one-time password(OTP). In such cases, an OTP is sent to the mobile number of the beneficiary. 0 Shop owners would use their mobile phones or mobile phones in their access to register for OTP in name of beneficiaries who have not availed the PDS that month. Hence there are also chances of cheating the beneficiaries using the OTP, sources said.
