'Preach Inclusion Practice Exclusion dream': Congress slams govt over WCD's face authentication move

New Delhi: The Congress on Monday attacked the Modi government over the Women and Child Development Ministry ordering face recognition authentication to be made mandatory for anganwadi beneficiaries, alleging that it is systematically using technology to exclude the most vulnerable sections of society from social welfare entitlements.

The opposition party also said Digital India must enable, not disempower, and it must not remain a "Preach Inclusion Practice Exclusion (PIPE) dream".

The ministry has directed all states and Union territories to implement a mandatory face recognition system for take-home ration distribution and child attendance monitoring at anganwadi centres.

According to a letter issued by the ministry last month, the face recognition feature will now be accessible within the beneficiary profiles on the Poshan tracker application. Beneficiaries will also have the option to self-register using the citizen module of the tracker for e-KYC and photo capture.

Reacting to the development, Congress general secretary in-charge communications Jairam Ramesh alleged that the Modi government is systematically using technology to exclude the most vulnerable sections of society from social welfare entitlements.

"First, Aadhaar was weaponised to block crores of workers from MGNREGA. Acid attack survivors had to battle in court just to enrol in Aadhaar. Adivasis across the country still lose rations to tech glitches," he said in a post on X.

"Now, pregnant women face a new hurdle: facial recognition technology (FRT) for basic and legal entitlements under the NFSA!" Ramesh said.

All over the world, evidence has emerged that FRT discriminates against class and colour of the skin, he said.

This is after other technologies such as Aadhaar-based Payment System (ABPS), the National Mobile Monitoring System (NMMS) app, etc. have proven to be exclusionary or have failed, Ramesh claimed.

The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Education, Women, Children, Youth, and Sports in its 365th Report on the Demand for Grants for the Women and Child Development Ministry had noted that the introduction of ABPS in the Pradhan Mantri Matru Vandana Yojana impacted the ability of eligible beneficiaries (i.e., pregnant and lactating women) to benefit from the scheme, he pointed out.

The number of beneficiaries paid has dipped drastically, from 96 lakh women in FY19-20 to 27 lakh women in FY23-24, Ramesh said.

"Still the Modi government brings yet another discriminatory technology.Digital India must enable, not disempower. It must not remain a Preach Inclusion Practice Exclusion ( PIPE) dream," he said.

From July 1, marking attendance and recording hot cooked meal consumption for children aged 3-6 years will be compulsory across anganwadi centres.

The same date marks the beginning of mandatory face recognition-based authentication for take-home ration distribution.

The ministry has also said that from August 1, face recognition will be made mandatory at the time of new beneficiary registration.

For pregnant women, lactating mothers and adolescent girls, e-KYC and facial recognition via Aadhaar will be a prerequisite.

In the case of children aged 0-6 years, the Aadhaar number of a parent or guardian will be required. For children in the 3-6 year age bracket, a photograph will be captured using liveliness detection, which will later be used during service delivery, according to the letter.

Children transitioning from the 0-3 year group to the older category will also have to update their photographs accordingly.

The ministry has urged state officials and field functionaries to facilitate beneficiary onboarding and encourage updating of Aadhaar-linked mobile numbers and photographs to ensure seamless authentication.

The directive follows earlier communications from the ministry dated November 12, 2024, and March 5, 2025, which had outlined phased implementation of the face authentication module under the POSHAN tracker system.