Enabling Access to Government Schemes Through Aadhaar Inclusion in Birhor Tola

Gandhi Fellow Nimmi Kumari Gunjan, originally from Bihar with an academic background in Science, is currently working in Jharkhand to strengthen access to public services for marginalized communities. During her Community Immersion visits to Birhor Tola, she observed a critical gap—many children from the Birhor tribal community did not possess Aadhaar cards, limiting their access to essential government welfare schemes.

Recognising how documentation barriers directly affect service delivery, Nimmi actively supported the administration’s effort to address the issue. While the local administration initiated the Aadhaar enrollment camp, her role focused on ground-level facilitation and insight-building. She documented challenges faced by families, shared field observations with authorities, and supported coordination and community mobilization to ensure better participation.

As part of the preparation process, the Block Development Officer (BDO) visited Birhor Tola and NPS Gariai School to assess on-ground realities, infrastructure needs, and readiness for the camp. Nimmi’s continuous presence in the community helped bridge communication gaps between the administration and residents, ensuring that local concerns were understood and addressed.

This initiative reinforced an important lesson: small documentation gaps can create large systemic barriers. Working closely with the Birhor community highlighted the value of sustained field engagement, attentiveness, and collaboration in enabling inclusion.

Through such grassroots interventions, Gandhi Fellows contribute to making public systems more responsive—ensuring that the most marginalized communities are not left behind due to preventable gaps in access.