ABSTRACT

What are the effects of biometric and digital technologies on social protection for the poor in India? Drawing on ethnographic research from rural Tamil Nadu, this paper presents evidence of how new technologies are experienced by beneficiaries of the Public Distribution System (PDS), and analyses the impacts of technology innovations on transparency, exclusion and mediation. The authors focus on the implementation of ‘smartcards,’ new digitised and Aadhaar-enabled ration cards, introduced in ration shops across Tamil Nadu in 2017. They first document how digitised smartcards and mobile text messages transform transparency for beneficiaries by introducing new opacities and information gaps. They then demonstrate how a lack of transparency (re)produces forms of exclusion that remain a challenge under the automated PDS. Finally, the paper highlights how novel forms of kin and non-kin mediation play a mitigating role in accessing PDS, and constitute a vital part of the infrastructure underpinning social welfare delivery.

摘要

生物识别和数字技术对印度穷人的社会保护有何影响？本文借鉴泰米尔纳德邦农村的民族志研究，展示了公共分配系统 (PDS) 的受益者如何体验新技术的证据，并分析了技术创新对透明度、排斥和调解的影响。作者专注于实施“智能卡”，即 2017 年在泰米尔纳德邦的口粮商店推出的新型数字化和支持 Aadhaar 的口粮卡。他们首先记录了数字化智能卡和移动短信如何通过引入新的不透明性和信息来改变受益人的透明度差距。然后，他们展示了缺乏透明度（重新）如何产生在自动化 PDS 下仍然是一个挑战的排除形式。最后，