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India: pregnant women and new mothers report being cut off from take-home rations when the Poshan Tracker app's face match failed

From 1 July 2025 India's Ministry of Women and Child Development made a facial recognition check in the government's Poshan Tracker app mandatory before pregnant women and nursing mothers receive take-home rations under the Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) scheme; the app compares the woman's live face with her Aadhaar identity photograph. In July 2025 Decode reported from Delhi that a woman eight months pregnant returned to her Anganwadi centre for a third day trying to get the app to recognise her, and a worker said she gave food to a new mother the app would not recognise and recorded it by hand. In August 2025 the Karnataka Anganwadi workers' union told The South First that the faces of pregnant and nursing mothers change so they no longer match their registration images, and that some mothers leave without their rations. In March 2026 a Decode investigation supported by the Pulitzer Center reported that a mother in Jharkhand was cut off from supplementary nutrition ten weeks after giving birth because the software could not match her face to a photograph taken eight years earlier, that a pregnant woman in Bihar who was anaemic went four months without rations because the system could not match her to an older Aadhaar photograph, that one Bihar centre had removed three pregnant women and five nursing mothers whose faces no longer matched, and that a Jharkhand worker was told to remove at least four children whose eligibility depended on their mothers' failed face matches. Decode also reports failures earlier in the process, when women cannot receive a one-time password on an Aadhaar-linked phone. Government figures cited by Decode show 52.7% of eligible beneficiaries had received rations through facial recognition by 31 December 2025. A researcher who analysed the app for Decode found Google's ML Kit face-detection library in it; Google said ML Kit cannot recognise individuals, and the government has not disclosed who built the matching system. After workers' protests, a February 2026 app update let workers upload other identity documents for pregnant and nursing women, subject to a supervisor's approval. Decode reports the Bihar woman later gave birth to a healthy baby, while her name remained missing from the system.

AI system
Poshan Tracker face recognition
Occurred
Jul 2025
Reported
17 July 2025
Event location
India
What the AI did
Made a decision about the person
Reported harm
Other Material HarmPsychological Distress
Whose AI use
An institution’s AI use
Setting
Public services · Health
Evidence
AI involvement reported · Causal attribution alleged · 4 sources
13 claims: 13 reported. 4 open questions
People reported harmed
At least 9 people

AI system as recorded: Facial recognition (FRS) in the Government of India's Poshan Tracker app, which matches a beneficiary's live face with her Aadhaar photograph before take-home rations are released; the matching component is undisclosed, and a researcher found Google ML Kit face detection in the app

Reported harm

Decode reports that women whose faces the app did not match against old Aadhaar photographs were refused or removed from supplementary food rations, including an anaemic pregnant woman who went four months without them and a mother cut off ten weeks after giving birth, and that children were dropped when their mothers' matches failed; workers and a union leader describe mothers leaving without rations and frustration at repeated failed scans.

Outcome

Ongoing

Decode reports that Ministry officials promised corrective steps to a workers' delegation on 3 December 2025 and that an app update on 11 February 2026 allowed other identity documents for pregnant and nursing women once a supervisor approves them, while face capture remains required. The Ministry did not answer Decode's questions about excluded beneficiaries.

What remains unknown

  • Who built the face-matching component and its accuracy on pregnant and nursing women; no test results are published.
  • How many beneficiaries were refused or removed because of face-match failures as distinct from eKYC, one-time-password or connectivity failures.
  • Whether the women described later regained their rations, or whether rations missed were restored.
  • Whether any court has ruled on the challenges to mandatory facial recognition; none is reported in the inspected sources.

What the evidence supports

AI involvement: reported. Decode, The South First and Down To Earth describe a mandatory facial recognition step in the Poshan Tracker app that compares a woman's live face with her Aadhaar or registration photograph before the app releases her take-home ration. Decode reports specific women whom this automated check did not recognise, and who were refused rations or removed from the rolls as a result, and workers say they cannot hand over rations when the app does not show a name. The non-match of a genuine beneficiary is the recognition system's own output. The government has not disclosed the matching component; a researcher found Google ML Kit face detection in the app, and Google says ML Kit does not recognise individuals. No analysis of individual failures is reported, and some exclusions arise at earlier one-time-password steps, which are kept separate.

13 claims: 13 reported. What the statuses mean

Reported From 1 July 2025 India's Ministry of Women and Child Development made the facial recognition system mandatory for pregnant and lactating women to receive take-home rations, and the Poshan Tracker app was updated to remove the option to skip the facial recognition step.

Causal attribution. Down To Earth's report of the ministry's order and the app update.

  • downtoearth.org.in(opens in new tab) supports · English
    Starting July 1, 2025, the Union Ministry of Women and Child Development (MoWCD) has officially made facial recognition system (FRS) mandatory for pregnant and lactating women to access take-home rations (THR) under the scheme POSHAN Abhiyaan, sparking concerns over potential exclusions and operational hurdles.; The government has updated the POSHAN Tracker mobile application to make sure the order is implemented, removing the previously available option to ‘skip’ the step for facial recognition.
Reported The app's facial recognition compares the beneficiary's live face with a stored reference photograph (her Aadhaar photograph), and Decode reports that it fails to match women whose faces have changed since that photograph.

Causal attribution. Decode's description of the system in two reports; the matching method is not disclosed by the government.

  • decodeinternet.in(opens in new tab) supports · English
    Across India, pregnant women and nursing mothers are being denied emergency food rations because facial recognition technology fails to match their current appearance to years-old identity photographs, a Decode investigation has found.
  • decodeinternet.in(opens in new tab) supports · English
    The app attempts to match her current appearance with that reference image in real time, using the Facial Recognition Technology (FRT).
Reported Decode reports that a mother in Jharkhand was cut off from supplementary nutrition ten weeks after giving birth because the facial recognition software could not match her face to a photograph taken eight years earlier; she also said she could not receive the one-time password because the phone linked to her Aadhaar was with her husband.

Causal attribution. Decode's report and the mother's own words; Decode changed her name.

  • decodeinternet.in(opens in new tab) supports · English
    was cut off from supplementary nutrition because the facial recognition software could not match her face to a photograph taken eight years earlier; "I don't look like my Aadhaar photo anymore,"; "And the phone linked to my Aadhaar is with my husband. He works at a construction site in Delhi. I cannot receive the one-time password they send."
Reported Decode reports that a pregnant woman in Bihar, whom her doctor had warned about poor nutrition because she was anaemic, was denied food rations for four months because the system could not match her current appearance to an older Aadhaar photograph, and that without the ration her diet was largely rice and seasonal vegetables.

Causal attribution. Decode's report of the woman's account; Decode changed her name.

  • decodeinternet.in(opens in new tab) supports · English
    She had been denied food rations for four months because the AI system could not match her current appearance to an Aadhaar photograph taken before her marriage, when she was noticeably younger.; Her doctor at the local primary health centre had warned her about the risks of poor nutrition late in pregnancy, especially because she was anaemic.; Without the ICDS take-home ration, her diet was largely limited to rice and seasonal vegetables. Milk, eggs and pulses were too expensive.
Reported Decode reports that the Bihar woman later gave birth to a healthy baby and was recovering, but her name remained missing from the welfare system and as a nursing mother she had not been able to obtain supplementary nutrition.

Causal attribution. Decode's follow-up; recorded as context, including the healthy birth.

  • decodeinternet.in(opens in new tab) supports · English
    gave birth to a healthy baby in December. She has been recovering steadily, but her name remains missing from the welfare system. As a nursing mother, she is entitled to supplementary nutrition, yet she has been unable to access it.
Reported Decode reports that at one Bihar Anganwadi centre three pregnant women and five nursing mothers were removed because their faces no longer matched old Aadhaar photographs.

Causal attribution. Decode's account of the centre, from its worker.

  • decodeinternet.in(opens in new tab) supports · English
    three pregnant women and five nursing mothers have been removed because their faces no longer match old Aadhaar photos.
Reported Decode reports that for children aged three to six without Aadhaar numbers the system uses a parent's, usually the mother's, identity, that a child is dropped from the rolls when that verification fails, and that a Jharkhand worker was instructed to remove at least four children after repeated facial recognition failures linked to their mothers' records.

Causal attribution. Decode's report of the rule and of the worker's account.

  • decodeinternet.in(opens in new tab) supports · English
    For children who do not yet have Aadhaar numbers, the system uses a parent's identity, usually the mother's. When verification fails, a child is dropped from the rolls.; was instructed to remove at least four children after repeated facial recognition failures linked to their mothers' records.
Reported In Delhi in July 2025 Decode reported a woman eight months pregnant returning to an Anganwadi centre for a third consecutive day hoping the app would recognise her face, and a worker who said the app would not recognise a new mother whose face had changed after three home visits, so she gave her the food and made a manual entry.

Causal attribution. Decode's reporting and the worker's account.

  • decodeinternet.in(opens in new tab) supports · English
    Eight months pregnant and returning for the third consecutive day, she stared into the lens of an aging Android phone, hoping the app would finally recognise her face and allow her to collect the nutrition packet she desperately needed.; Her face had changed with dark spots and tiredness. The app just wouldn’t recognise her,” she said with a tired laugh. “I went to her home after work three times. The FRT failed each time. In the end, I just gave her the food and made a manual entry, hoping my supervisor understands.”
Reported The general secretary of the Karnataka Anganwadi workers' union told The South First that pregnant and lactating mothers' faces change so they no longer match the images captured at registration, and that as a result some mothers are forced to leave without their rations.

Causal attribution. The union leader's statement to The South First.

  • thesouthfirst.com(opens in new tab) supports · English
    The faces and bodies of pregnant and lactating mothers change frequently, so they no longer match the images captured during the registration. The app doesn’t account for these changes, and as a result, some mothers are forced to leave without receiving their rations,
Reported Government figures cited by Decode show that of 4.73 crore eligible beneficiaries, 4.51 crore had completed initial documentation and 2.79 crore (52.7%) had received rations through facial recognition as of 31 December 2025; the Ministry did not answer Decode's questions about the missing beneficiaries.

Causal attribution. Decode's reading of government data; the figures do not separate face-match failures from other causes.

  • decodeinternet.in(opens in new tab) supports · English
    Government figures show that of 4.73 crore eligible beneficiaries, 4.51 crore (over 91%) had completed initial documentation and were awaiting face matching as of 31 December 2025. Yet only 2.79 crore (52.7%) had successfully received rations through facial recognition. Nearly half had been locked out.; The Ministry of Women and Child Development did not respond to Decode’s questions about where the missing beneficiaries are, how many have been permanently removed from welfare rolls, or what evidence exists that the system has prevented fraud.
Reported Decode reports that many women drop out earlier, at Aadhaar eKYC, because they cannot receive a one-time password on the mobile number linked to their Aadhaar; Down To Earth reports slow networks, failed scans and server crashes.

Causal attribution. Recorded as counterevidence: some exclusions come from steps other than the face match.

  • decodeinternet.in(opens in new tab) supports · English
    Before the AI can scan a face, the women must first complete Aadhaar electronic verification, requiring updated Aadhaar details and access to a mobile number linked to the ID to receive a one-time password. This process is called Aadhaar eKYC. For many women, this is where the process breaks down. Mobile numbers are often outdated, inactive, or tied to phones that travel with husbands to distant worksites. Without the password, verification stalls and the beneficiary drops out before reaching the facial recognition stage.
  • downtoearth.org.in(opens in new tab) supports · English
    Mandatory facial recognition under such conditions risks excluding the very people the scheme is meant to serve. This is compounded by slow network speeds, failed facial scans and frequent server crashes.
Reported A researcher who analysed the Poshan Tracker app for Decode found Google's ML Kit face-detection library in it; Google told Decode that ML Kit does not have facial recognition capabilities, and Decode reports that the government has not disclosed who built the facial verification system.

Causal attribution. The researcher's analysis and Google's statement as reported by Decode.

  • decodeinternet.in(opens in new tab) supports · English
    said a review of the app’s installation file (APK) shows that it includes components of Google ML Kit used for face detection.; Responding to Decode’s query, Google said that ML Kit “does not have facial recognition capabilities” and is not designed to identify specific individuals.; the government has not disclosed who built the facial verification system, whether it was tested for accuracy on the populations it now excludes, or what safeguards exist when the comparison fails.
Reported Decode reports that on 11 February 2026 an app update allowed workers to upload other identity documents for pregnant and lactating women, adding a woman only after an Anganwadi supervisor approves the document, while registration through a father's or guardian's Aadhaar still requires eKYC and face capture.

Causal attribution. Decode's account of the government's partial change.

  • decodeinternet.in(opens in new tab) supports · English
    On February 11, an app update introduced a limited alternative identity provision, applicable only to pregnant and lactating women. The update allows workers to upload documents such as voter ID cards, bank passbooks, passports, or ration cards. However, this change allows a woman’s name to be added to the system only after the Anganwadi supervisor verifies and approves the alternate identity document.; The workaround still requires facial recognition, leaving the fundamental problem unresolved.

Sources

4 sources inspected. Sources that repeat one account do not corroborate each other.

How the sources were read, and where the events happened

Read in English on 2026-11-02 (decodeinternet.in, BOOM's Decode desk); no translation. Applies to s1.

Read in English on 2026-11-02; no translation. Applies to s2, s3, s4.

Event countries: India. Affected-person countries: India. Court countries: Unknown.

Decode reports from Anganwadi centres in Bihar, Jharkhand and Delhi and The South First from Karnataka, all under India's ICDS scheme.

Reviewed for publication 2026-11-02: Published as a government welfare app's mandatory face match that, according to Decode's reporting from named states, did not recognise pregnant women and new mothers against old identity photographs, so that described women were refused or removed from take-home rations and children were dropped. The accounts are attributed; Google's statement, the government figures and the non-face-match causes are recorded.

People described

Pregnant women and nursing mothers entitled to take-home rations under India's ICDS scheme in Bihar, Jharkhand, Karnataka and Delhi whom the app's face check did not recognise, and children whose eligibility is verified through their mothers' faces

People reported harmed in this case

At least 9 people

0 AI participants · 9 other people harmed

Additional affected people are described without a reliable count.

Decode reports one Bihar centre where three pregnant women and five nursing mothers were removed because their faces no longer matched old Aadhaar photographs, and a Jharkhand mother cut off when the software could not match her face (9). The anaemic Bihar woman may be among that centre's eight and is not added. Other figures (nearly 10 women at another centre, at least four children, nationwide shares) are approximate, overlap, or are not tied to the face match alone, so they are not counted.

Counted once within this case. The same person may appear in other cases. This count does not establish AI causation.

Tags

#facial-recognition#public-services#take-home-rations#pregnancy#welfare#india

Cite this case

Compiled per our published methodology: verification statuses, sourcing standards, and corrections process.

APA

NOPE. (2026). India: pregnant women and new mothers report being cut off from take-home rations when the Poshan Tracker app's face match failed. AI incidents. https://nope.net/incidents/2025-india-pregnant-women-and-new-mothers-report-poshan-tracker-face-match-failures-cut-off-take-home-rations

BibTeX

@misc{2025_india_pregnant_women_and_new_mothers_report_poshan_tracker_face_match_failures_cut_off_take_home_rations,
  title = {India: pregnant women and new mothers report being cut off from take-home rations when the Poshan Tracker app's face match failed},
  author = {NOPE},
  year = {2026},
  howpublished = {AI incidents},
  url = {https://nope.net/incidents/2025-india-pregnant-women-and-new-mothers-report-poshan-tracker-face-match-failures-cut-off-take-home-rations}
}

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