IndiaPosted at: Nov 4 2026 3:47PM


CPI(M) slams mandatory biometric, voter ID checks for welfare, warns of mass exclusion of poor

New Delhi, Nov 4 (UNI) The Communist Party of India (Marxist) on Wednesday launched a strong attack on the union government’s reported decision to make biometric authentication and Electors Photo Identity Card (EPIC) mandatory for welfare payments, warning that the move would create fresh barriers for millions of poor and vulnerable people seeking access to their legitimate entitlements.
In a statement issued by its Polit Bureau on November 4, the CPI(M) termed the announcement by union Minister for Panchayati Raj Rajiv Ranjan Singh “a further assault on the rural poor” and demanded its immediate withdrawal.
The party cautioned that making biometric authentication and voter identity cards compulsory for accessing welfare schemes would disproportionately affect agricultural workers, elderly women and economically disadvantaged households.
Highlighting the shortcomings of biometric verification, the CPI(M) said repeated authentication failures had resulted in genuine beneficiaries being denied their dues, particularly under rural employment programmes. It cited cases of elderly women being unable to receive payments because machines failed to capture their iris scans and manual labourers being excluded after biometric devices failed to recognise their worn-out fingerprints.
The party also questioned the practicality of electronic know-your-customer (e-KYC) requirements, pointing out that a large number of rural households did not possess smartphones to complete the mandatory digital procedures.
Questioning the Centre’s changing position on Aadhaar, the CPI(M) recalled that the government had earlier assured the Supreme Court that Aadhaar would not be compulsory but subsequently extended its use across welfare schemes.
“Having touted Aadhaar as foolproof, the government itself is now discarding it,” the party remarked, questioning why another layer of technological and documentary requirements was being introduced for accessing essential benefits.
The Polit Bureau also linked the latest move to the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, alleging that the exercise was being used as an instrument of mass disenfranchisement. Describing the SIR as a “surgical strike” on voting rights, the party claimed that more than 13.4 crore voters had been excluded and that marginalised communities, Muslims, women and economically vulnerable sections were bearing a disproportionate burden.
The CPI(M) warned that linking welfare payments to voter identity cards could further compound the exclusion arising from deletions in electoral rolls. It alleged that some state governments had already started denying ration and other welfare benefits to people whose names had been removed during the SIR exercise.
Such denial of benefits, the party argued, amounted to a violation of the Supreme Court’s ruling that exclusion from electoral rolls cannot be made a ground for denying social welfare entitlements.
The controversy has revived concerns over the growing reliance on Aadhaar, biometric authentication and electoral identity documents in the delivery of government assistance, particularly in rural areas where digital infrastructure, access to smartphones and authentication facilities remain uneven. Critics have repeatedly warned that technological failures and documentation deficiencies can prevent otherwise eligible beneficiaries from accessing food security, employment payments and other essential support.
Maintaining that welfare entitlements cannot be conditional upon possession of particular identity documents or access to technology, the CPI(M) alleged that the latest requirements reflected “a concerted effort to deny benefits to a vast majority of the people”.
The party insisted that social security schemes must remain accessible to every eligible beneficiary and that technical failures, inability to complete biometric authentication or lack of a particular identity document must never become grounds for withholding legally guaranteed benefits.
It reiterated its demand for immediate withdrawal of the government’s decision and called for universal delivery of welfare entitlements without exclusionary technological or documentary conditions.
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Tags: #CPI(M) slams mandatory biometric# voter ID checks for welfare# warns of mass exclusion of poor
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