Alternatives to Aadhaar-based biometrics in the Public Distribution System.
By Rakesh Allu, Sarang Deo, Sripad Devalkar
Economic and Political Weekly | March 2019
Citation
Allu, Rakesh., Deo, Sarang., Devalkar, Sripad. Alternatives to Aadhaar-based biometrics in the Public Distribution System. Economic and Political Weekly .
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Economic and Political Weekly, 2019
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Abstract
States across the country are taking steps towards providing digital identities to beneficiaries of their Public Distribution System. In doing so, use of Aadhaar based biometrics seems to be the preferred choice of method. However, this method has been widely criticized for several reasons such as high implementation cost and frequent transaction failures. It is important to note that this is not the only method for providing digital identities to the beneficiaries Several other methods exist and have been adopted by different states at different points in time. States currently embarking on the journey of providing digital identities to their beneficiaries might benefit from evaluating all alternatives before making inroads into any specific method.

Sarang Deo is a Professor of Operations Management at the Indian School of Business (ISB). He also serves as the Executive Director of the ISB’s Max Institute of Healthcare Management, where he provides strategic leadership for ISB's healthcare initiatives through interdisciplinary research, education, and collaboration.

Professor Deo's research focuses on healthcare delivery systems, examining how operational decisions influence population-level health outcomes. His work spans a wide range of healthcare contexts, including influenza vaccine supply chains and ambulance diversion in the United States, HIV early infant diagnosis networks in sub-Saharan Africa, and formal and informal pathways for tuberculosis (TB) diagnosis and treatment in India. His recent research has focused on designing and evaluating healthcare delivery models, with a particular emphasis on digital health and the integration of artificial intelligence into healthcare systems.

He regularly collaborates with leading global health organisations, including the Gates Foundation, the Clinton Health Access Initiative (CHAI), and PATH. He currently serves on the World Health Organization's Strategic and Technical Advisory Group for Tuberculosis (STAG-TB) and the Working Group for Non-Technical Evaluation under the WHO Global Initiative on AI for Health (GI-AI4H).

Prior to joining ISB, Professor Deo was an Assistant Professor at the Kellogg School of Management. He holds a PhD from the UCLA Anderson School of Management, an MBA from the Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad, and a BTech from the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay. Before entering academia, he worked as a management consultant with Accenture.

Professor Sarang Deo
Sarang Deo

Professor Sripad Devalkar is an Associate Professor of Operations Management at the Indian School of Business (ISB). His research interests fall under two broad themes - agricultural operations and Non-profit and public sector operations. Within these thematic areas, he is interested in understanding issues related to supply chain management and how the interaction of operational, financial, and risk management decisions affect outcomes.

He teaches the core Operations Management course in the PGP programme at ISB, as well as, an elective course on Logistics and Supply Chain Management.

Sripad Devalkar
Sripad Devalkar