On 3rd March 2023, 11-year-old Arjun Hembram, known to his family as Juna Hembram, from the Keonjhar district of Odisha, passed away in the early hours of the morning, because of severe malnourishment. The child, who was born with a disability, had not had any rice to eat for two days, and passed away after developing a fever. The child was buried the next day, without a post-mortem.
The tragic incident of a child’s death due to malnourishment, was reported by the local media. A fact-finding team, of journalists, social workers and social scientists, visited Ghatisahi under Ragada revenue village of Ranagundi Grampanchayat, Keonjhar district of Odisha, to look into the matter. The team’s report (which can be accessed here) found that the child’s family had not received rations for 21 months, most likely due to another Aadhaar-enabled exclusion, because “Aadhaar seeding” or linking the ration card to Aadhaar had not happened. Arjun’s mother was not able to understand why her ration card had been cancelled, but it was most likely due to her name being spelt differently on her Aadhaar card and ration card.
Expressing their deep concern at Arjun Hembram’s tragic death, the experts noted that this was not the first time that such an incident has taken place in Jajpur district. As the
— source rethinkaadhaar.in | Apr 10, 2023