Aadhaar: Gas chamber that kills the hungry
The death of poor tribal Kaleshwara Soren has proved the fact to the nation that Supreme Court verdict on Aadhaar can never help the impoverished. Aadhaar is controlling the life of the poor of this country. Forget the other facilities, even to avail a kilo of rice, if it is mandatory to have Aadhaar, it is the heights of cruelty that prevails in a democratic nation. In some ways, this is the beginning of adivasi mass carnage.
45-year old Kaleshwara Soren of a village near Dumka ji in Jharkhand, died of hunger and malnutrition recently. This is the 17th hunger related death in that state since Santosh Kumari's death last year for similar reasons.
Kaleshwara wasn't ailing from any serious illness. According to his son, his father hadn't eaten two days prior to his death.
He had stopped working at the brick kiln where he was earning a living, owing to injury. Hunger and poverty has kept him away from education. His children migrated in search of work. They hadn't got even cold meal in Anganwadi, forget hot mid day meal as offered by the government. Job guarantee scheme such as MGNREGA didn't exist in his village. His family didn't have a job card. They didn't have any job opportunity to earn a living and remain alive. In this case, his only hope was public distribution of ration through Antyodaya scheme. That was his last resort. But even that came to a close in 2016 when he could not attach his Aadhaar number to ration card. Two more such hunger deaths has happened in Jharkhand owing to Aadhaar card. State government implemented paperless public distribution system. The objective behind this was to avoid fake and duplicate cases availing resources. Around this time many ration provisions got cancelled under Aadhaar based savings. This was the last shock for poor people like Kaleshwara Soren who lived in rural India, very distant from being beneficiaries of welfare measures launched for poor people.
The official process of 'seeding’ of connecting Aadhaar with ration cards was the reason for this. This process removes duplicates soon as the Aadhaar is linked to public distribution records of people. There are a lot of unresolved issues with this. Every information provided for Aadhar has to tally with the other records. If any one aspect among the provided details -- such as name, spouse's name, address, date of birth, parents name - has inaccuracies, the details are erased from digital format.
How many poor illiterate people of this country would remember such details that they do not use in daily life? This is exactly happened with Kaleshwara. The clever fakes live and the genuine poor are pushed to death.
As per the records of Jharkhand government, details of only 1.7 crore have been seeded among a total of 2.3 crore. What happened to the rest? This case can repeat itself anywhere in the country. Because our media is yet to understand that death can happen due to hunger. Duplicate ration data can be created from duplicate Aadhaar card. But it is impossible for a deserving and genuine poor man to get food without Aadhaar.
The black marketeers are usurping the food of genuine poor people. This is the uncomfortable truth. The government had recognized the fact that Kaleshwara was a poor man.
And if is the duty of government officials to ensure he gets an Aadhaar card if the process turns difficult. But the officers are destructively pleased to remove the names of those without Aadhaar than to ensure he or she gets an Aadhaar. This Aadhaar has turned into a gas chamber for Modi government to eradicate the poor and impoverished. Modi is trying hard to improve the country's image through announcements such as bullet trains, tallest statue, biggest park etc. Naturally so, the Adivasis are a major road block for his dream run. Hence it looks like the government has planned to eradicate them by making random documents and Id cards mandatory so that the poor can be wiped out totally.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
London, Nov 22: A bomb disposal squad deployed as a “precaution” to the South Terminal of Gatwick Airport concluded an investigation into a "security incident" on Friday after making a “suspect package” safe.
The South Terminal of Gatwick Airport, the UK's second busiest airport after Heathrow, which was briefly shut owing to the incident reopened following the incident.
The Gatwick is around 45 km south of London.
Two people detained during the enquiries have since been allowed to continue their journey as the airport was opened.
“Police have concluded their investigation into a report of a suspect package at Gatwick Airport. Officers from the EOD (Explosive Ordnance Disposal) team made the package safe, and the airport has been handed back to its operator,” Sussex Police said in an updated statement.
“Two people detained while enquiries were ongoing have subsequently been allowed to continue their journeys. There will remain an increased police presence in the area to assist with passengers accessing the South Terminal for onward travel,” the statement added.
Earlier on Friday, the incident caused severe disruption at the busy airport’s South Terminal, while the North Terminal of Gatwick Airport remained unaffected.
“Police were called to the South Terminal at Gatwick Airport at 8.20 am on Friday (November 22) following the discovery of a suspected prohibited item in luggage,” a Sussex Police statement said.
“To ensure the safety of the public, staff and other airport users, a security cordon has been put in place whilst the matter is dealt with. As a precaution, an EOD (Explosive Ordnance Disposal) team is being deployed to the airport. This is causing significant disruption and some roads around the South Terminal have been closed. We’d advise the public to avoid the area where possible,” it said.
Footage on social media taken outside the airport showed crowds of frustrated travellers being moved away from the terminal building.
Gatwick said it was working hard to resolve the issue.
“A large part of the South Terminal has been evacuated as a precaution while we continue to investigate a security incident," the airport said in a social media post.
“Passengers will not be able to enter the South Terminal while this is ongoing. The safety and security of our passengers and staff remain our top priority. We are working hard to resolve the issue as quickly as possible.”
Train and bus services that serve the airport were also impacted while the police carried out their inquiries.
In an unrelated incident in south London on Friday morning, the US Embassy area in Nine Elms by the River Thames was the scene of a controlled explosion by Scotland Yard dealing with what they believe may have been a “hoax device”.
“We can confirm the 'loud bang' reported in the area a short time ago was a controlled explosion carried out by officers,” the Metropolitan Police said in a post on X.
“Initial indications are that the item was a hoax device. An investigation will now follow. Some cordons will remain in place for the time being but the majority of the police response will now be stood down,” it added.
