Partially Included Citizens: Variation in coverage across IDs in India

Abstract

I examine variation in the relative coverage rates of alternative IDs in India. States with historically weak civil registration rolled out alternative IDs facilitating access to key rights and public goods like voting and welfare for adult citizens unregistered at birth. However, the coverage rates of alternative IDs vary. While Aadhaar has achieved near-universal coverage; birth certificates, voter cards, and tax numbers remain patchy. Why are citizens more likely to possess some IDs than others? Citizens are likely to invest more effort in acquiring some IDs than others. ID systems are not just facets of state legibility, they facilitate inclusion in varying bundles of rights and obligations. There are benefits and costs associated with alternative IDs for citizens. Citizens utilise different strategies of engaging the state ranging from pro-active claim-making to acquiescence and evasion to negotiate these benefits and costs like welfare versus surveillance. Citizen strategies of engaging the state are reflected in the relative coverage of alternative IDs, even with control for state supply. I combine original interview and focus group data with existing survey data to examine the effect of varying incentive structures of alternative IDs on their coverage rates. Citizen-state interaction across various functional ID domains tied to costs and benefits ultimately produces a chequered form of legibility, whereby citizens are included in some IDs more quickly than others.