Datafying anti-poverty programmes: implications for data justice

Figures & data

Table 1. Synopsis of interviews.

Respondent type	Count
Beneficiaries (In-State)	23
Beneficiaries (Out-State)	2
Ration Shop Owners	6
Ration Shop Employees	8
Programme Officers	3
Total	42

Figure 1. The Aadhaar-based PDS in Karnataka.

Table 2. Forms of data injustice in the Aadhaar-based PDS.

Form	Explanation	Consequences
Legal	Makes the universal right to food conditional to Aadhaar registration	Subordination of a universal right to acceptance of biometric surveillance
		Voluntary character of Aadhaar is turned into de facto mandatory – to access food security schemes
Design-related	Datafied system is not designed to tackle the real access problems that users face (exclusion errors, dependency on ration dealers)	Persistence of exclusion of genuinely entitled beneficiaries from the PDS
		Perpetuation of recipients’ dependency on the discretionality of the local ration shop owners
Informational	Beneficiaries are not made aware of the transformative intention behind datafication (transition from the PDS to a system of cash transfers)	Consensus for Aadhaar in spite of mistrust towards cash transfers
		Informational asymmetry between government and food security programme beneficiaries