11-Year-Old Starves to Death Due to Unavailability of Aadhaar Card

Supreme court order of 2013 held that Aadhaar can’t be made mandatory for public welfare schemes.

Is holding an Aadhaar card more important than a human life?

(Photo courtesy: ANI)

An 11-year-old girl from Jharkhand’s Simdega district died due to starvation on 28 September. Santoshi Kumar allegedly passed away after going hungry for over eight days.

The reason for her hunger? Kumar’s impoverished family’s ration card was revoked as it was not linked to their Aadhaar number, thus, denying them rations. This, despite the Supreme Court order of 2013 that held that Aadhaar can’t be made mandatory for public welfare schemes.

Jharkhand government has promised that strict action will be taken against those who are held responsible.

Video Editor: Sandeep Suman