The Karnataka State Anganwadi Workers’ Union, in collaboration with the Bharat Gyan Vigyan Samithi (BGVS), held a public meeting on Tuesday in Bengaluru to raise concerns about the use of facial recognition technology in anganwadis and public schools.

At the gathering held in the City, anganwadi workers, academics, and activists came together to question the motives behind introducing facial recognition and to express concern over the state’s willingness to adopt the policy without broader consultation.

The meeting was prompted by the Centre’s decision to implement mandatory facial recognition for distributing take-home rations under the Pradhan Mantri Poshan Shakti Nirman (PM POSHAN) scheme, as well as the Karnataka state government’s recent move to use the same technology to track teacher attendance in public schools.

Economist Dipa Sinha, a key member of the Right to Food campaign, criticized the move, calling it a diversion from more pressing issues such as the stagnant anganwadi food budget, which has not been revised since 2017 despite rising food prices. “The quality of food is poor—facial recognition won’t change that,” she said. Sinha argued that if there were genuine concern for social welfare, the focus would be on improving food quality. “Nearly 14 lakh anganwadis exist today because of grassroots efforts. It’s our responsibility to protect what we’ve fought so hard to build,” she added.

Highlighting the lack of supporting research, absence of public engagement, and non-transparent decision-making, BGVS vice-president Subhankar Chakraborty criticized the introduction of the software. “This isn’t a welfare policy. It’s a tool being used to shrink the social welfare budget,” he asserted.

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